University  of  California  •  Berkeley 


LIFE  IN  THE  SANDWICH  ISLANDS : 

OR, 

THE  HEART  OF  THE  PACIFIC 

AS  IT  WAS  AND  IS. 
BY  REV.  HENRY  T.  CHEEVE 

AUTHOR  OF  "THE  ISLAND  WORLD  OF  THE  PACIFIC,"  "THE  WHALE  AND 
HIS  CAPTORS,"  ETC. 

WITH    ENG-RAVING-S. 


Histories  make  men  wise  ;  poetry,  witty ;  the  mathematics,  subtle ;  natural 
philosophy,  grave;  logic  and  rhetoric,  able  to  contend;  voyages  and  travels,  to 
entertain  and  illustrate.  LOBD  BACON. 


NEW  YORK: 
PUBLISHED  BY  A.  S.  BARNES  &  CO., 

NO.   51    JOHN-STREET. 

CINCINNATI:— H.  W.  DERBY  &  CO. 

1851. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of .Congress,  in  the  year  Eighteen  Hundred  and  Fifty-one, 

BY  A.  S.  BARNES  &  COMPANY, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the  Southern 
District  of  New  York. 


STEREOTYPED  BY 

RICHARD   C.  VALENTINE, 

NEW  YORK. 


P.  C.  GUTIERREZ,  Printer, 
Corner  of  John  and  Dutch  streets 


PREFACE. 


WE  call  this  book  "The  Heart  of  the  Pacific,"  for  two 
reasons :  first,  because  the  Sandwich  or  Hawaiian  Isl 
ands,  which  form  its  subject-matter,  hold  about  the 
same  relation  to  other  parts  of  the  Pacific  as  the  heart 
does  to  the  rest  of  the  human  body.  Second,  because 
these  Islands  bid  fair  to  become  the  religious  Protest 
ant  Heart  of  the  great  Ocean,  whose  pulsations  at  dif 
ferent  times  we  have  herein  marked  and  interpreted. 

Although  independent  and  whole  of  itself,  it  has  a 
connection  which  will  be  seen  with  "  The  Island- World 
of  the  Pacific."  The  writer  believes  it  may  fulfil  a 
useful  part,  in  directing  the  general  interest  now  felt  in 
the  young  Island-Kingdom  of  Hawaii.  The  perpetuity 
of  the  pure  Hawaiian  race  there  is  daily  becoming 
more  and  more  doubtful.  But,  as  it  has  been  re 
marked  of  New  Zealand,  the  natives,  though  melting 
away,  are  not  lost.  They  are  emerging  into  another 
and  a  better  class.  In  this  process  there  lacketh  not 
sin  on  man's  part ;  but  Providence  will  overrule  it  for 
good,  and  bring  forth  an  order  of  things  which  shall 


PREFACE. 


be  far  better  for  the  world,  for  the  Church  of  Christ, 
and  for  the  new  race. 

Perhaps  it  is  in  the  providential  plan  of  the  world's 
great  Euler,  that  the  Sandwich  Islands  should  yet  be 
adopted  into  the  great  American  Confederacy.  Won 
as  they  have  been  from  the  lowest  barbarism  by  Amer 
ican  missionaries, — having  had  expended  upon  them 
in  the  process,  nearly  a  million  and  a  half  of  dollars 
from  America,  and  the  services  of  fifty  families  now  pos 
sessing  there  valuable  homesteads, — harboring  a  per 
manent  American  population,  foremost  in  energy  and 
influence,  now  little  short  of  one  thousand,  besides  a 
floating  American  population  that  touch  and  recruit 
annually  to  the  number  of  fifteen  thousand,  in  whale- 
ships  and  merchantmen, — and  consuming  yearly  a  mil 
lion  of  dollars'  worth  of  American  merchandise ; — on 
all  these  grounds  there  would  seem  to  be  a  propriety 
in  their  enjoying  an  American  Protectorate,  if  not  an 
admission  under  the  flag  of  the  American  Republic. 

"  American  enterprise,"  says  a  writer*  who  has  been 
for  many  years  familiar  with  the  history  and  progress 
of  the  Hawaiian  Islands,  "  both  commercial  and  philan 
thropic,  has  invested  the  group  with  its  present  politi 
cal  importance — bestowing  upon  the  inhabitants  laws, 
religion,  civilization — and  will  soon  add  to  these  gifts 

*  J  J.  Jarves. 


PREFACE. 


language ;  for  the  English  tongue  is  rapidly  superseding 
the  Hawaiian.  The  Islanders  have  thus  a  moral  claim 
upon  the  American  nation  for  protection.  In  no  way 
can  this  be  more  efficiently  bestowed  than  by  receiving 
them  into  the  family  of  this  great  Republic.  The  na 
tive  population  are  as  well  prepared  to  be  American 
citizens,  as  the  multitude  of  European  emigrants.  Un 
like  the  generality  of  them,  they  can  read  and  write, 
and  have  already  acquired  democratic  ideas  under  the 
operation  of  their  own  liberal  constitution  of  govern 
ment,  which  will  readily  enable  them  to  incorporate 
themselves  under  our  institutions.  They  are  destined 
to  be  supplanted  in  numbers  and  power  by  a  foreign 
race.  They  desire  us  to  be  their  successors  and  pro 
tectors.  The  present  revenues  of  the  Islands  are  more 
than  adequate  to  the  expenses  of  its  government — 
time,  opportunity,  the  interests  of  the  inhabitants  and 
ourselves  point  to  this  result." 

Events  will  soon  determine  whether  they  are  to  re 
tain  their  independency,  or  to  be  merged  in  the  na 
tion  that  has  civilized  them.  In  either  event  they  are 
to  constitute  no  mean  a  portion  of  the  kingdom  of 
Christ ;  and  if  this  book  shall  be  found  to  have  helped 
at  all  to  the  production  of  that  better  order  of  things, 
when  HE  WHOSE  EIGHT  IT  is  SHALL  KEIGN,  the  labor  be 
stowed  on  it  at  a  time  when  the  decay  of  health,  and  cir 
cumstances  not  to  be  controlled,  precluded  the  exercise 


6  PREFACE. 


of  the  Ministry,  will  be  amply  rewarded.  It  is  one 
man's  mission  in  this  world  to  do  ;  it  is  another's  to  re 
cord  and  perpetuate  the  memory  of  worthy  deeds.  And, 
in  John  Newton's  judgment,  it  would  make  little  differ 
ence  to  an  angel  who  should  visit  our  earth,  upon 
which  of  the  two  he  were  sent  by  the  angels'  Lord. 

Next,  at  least  in  our  view,  to  the  honor  of  being 
one's  self  a  laborious  and  successful  foreign  missionary, 
is  that  of  being  permitted  to  describe  and  preserve  the 
achievements  of  other  missionaries,  and  to  portray  the 
benign  results  to  society  at  large,  which  have  been  real 
ized  by  good  men  and  true,  on  the  noble  field  of  Prot 
estant  Missionary  benevolence  in  the  Pacific.  Having 
steadily  aimed  to  present  to  his  readers  none  other  than 
the  real,  which  is  the  hopeful  aspect  of  the  missionary 
life  and  enterprise  at  the  Sandwich  Islands,  the  author 
believes  that  this  volume  will  gain  a  grateful  echo 
from  the  great  Heart  of  Christian  Philanthropy,  as  it 
.  is  a  true  report  from  that  portion  of  our  common  hu 
manity  whence  it  purports  to  issue. 

But  in  this  and  three  previous  volumes,  though 
pleased  to  minister  both  pleasure  and  profit  to  all  our 
readers,  we  have  written  mainly  for  Seamen  ;  and 
while  aiming  to  entertain  and  instruct  them,  have  de 
sired  also  to  cultivate  and  quicken  their  perceptions  of 
the  true,  the  good,  the  sublime,  and  the  beautiful  in 
man,  nature,  art,  and  religion.  We  have,  therefore, 


PREFACE. 


felt  justified  in  making  free  use  of  the  rich  treasures  of 
English  poetry, 

To  point  a  moral,  and  adorn  a  tale. 

We  have  desired,  in  so  doing,  to  enhance  the  value  of 
this  book  to  the  class  of  readers  for  whom  it  has  been 
made,  without  lessening  its  interest  for  any — 

Lectorem  delectando  simul  atque  monendo. 

"With  these  remarks,  while  the  work  is  honestly  com 
mended  to  the  patronage  of  all  classes,  the  author 
would  be  happy  if  it  might  find  such  favor  with  the 
liberal  merchant  and  ship-owner,  that  they  should  se 
cure  it  a  place  in  THE  CABIN  BOY'S  LOCKEK.  The  de 
sign  of  furnishing  a  suitable  Literature  for  the  sea,  in  a 
convenient,  accessible,  and  cheap  form,  is  one  which 
we  have  for  some  time  entertained,  since  observing  the 
lamentable  destitution  of  it  on  the  Ocean.  By  leave  of 
a  gracious  Providence,  and  with  aid  from  others,  we 
mean  to  do  something  to  supply  this  deficiency,  and  to 
put  it  out  of  the  power  of  shipmasters  to  plead,  that 
they  do  not  know  where  to  procure  a  suitable  LIBRARY 
FOR  THE  SEA. 

To  them  and  to  their  Seamen  this  volume  is  accord 
ingly  dedicated,  as  being  an  humble  attempt  to  furnish 
something  better  than  the  medley  of  Flash  Literature 
usually  found  in  the  Cabin-Locker  and  the  Sailor's 
Chest. 


8  PREFACE. 


The  Appendix  is  meant  to  supply  to  business  men 
and  travellers,  as  well  as  to  Seamen,  those  reliable  sta 
tistics  respecting  the  government,  resources,  commerce, 
growth,  and  prosperity  of  the  Hawaiian  Islands,  which 
all  visitors,  or  any  persons  who  are  seeking  accurate 
information  respecting  a  country,  desire  to  have  at 
hand.  In  lieu  of  something  more  perfect,  it  is  hoped 
that  this  may  answer  as  a  guide-book  and  vade-mecum 
to  tourists  in  the  Pacific. 

In  connection  with  the  tinted  engravings,  the  au 
thor  and  publishers  regret  certain  typographical  errors, 
which  were  not  observed  till  the  edition  was  in  part 
printed.  The  candid  reader  is  therefore  requested  to 
read  on  the  vignette  title-page,  Kaahumanu,  for  Kaa- 
hamann,  and  Hawaiian,  for  Hawanan. 

NEW  YORK,  August  20/ft,  1851. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  L 

LOCAL  TRADITIONS   OF   CAPTAIN   COOK,  AND   GLIMPSES   OF   OLD   PAGANISM  IN 
THE   HEAET   OF   THE   PACIFIC. 

A  notable  wonder — Curious  Fancies  of  the  Natives  respecting  the  first 
Ship — ^They  venture  nigh  in  Canoes — They  recognize  their  god  Lono — 
They  pay  Divine  Worship  to  Captain  Cook — They  grow  familiar  with  the 
Haoles — They  smart  under  Indignities  and  Exactions — The  bent  bow 
snaps — They  are  undeceived — The  Denouement — He  groans — He  is  not 
a  god— The  Fight— The  Fall— The  Eetreat— The  burning  of  the  Naviga 
tor's  Body— The  Exploits  of  Phillips— The  Narrative  of  Ledyard— The 
Revenge — The  Providence — We  stand  where  Cook  fell — We  visit  the 
Spot  where  his  Body  was  burned — Monumental  Inscription — Natural 
reflection  upon  his  end — Forms  of  the  Old  Idolatry — Pagan  Notions  re 
specting  the  Soul— The  Realms  of  Wakea  and  Milu— Providence  and 
Grace  in  the  Heart  of  the  Pacific , Page  19 


CHAPTER  II. 

KEALAKEKUA  BAY  NOW  AND  THIRTY  YEARS  AGO. 

The  Trail  from  Kailua— Observed  Wealth  of  Nature— Insight  of  the  Spir 
itual  through  the  Veil  of  the  Natural — Analogy  drawn  and  Lessons  de 
rived — We  view  the  Ocean  from  on  high — Coffee  Plantation  of  a  Man 
from  Maine — A  Relic  from  the  Times  of  Kamehameha  the  Great — The 
Premises  of  a  Missionary  heave  in  sight — Primitive  Hospitality — City  of 
Refuge  at  Honaunau — the  lona  of  Hawaii — Ellis's  Account  of  it  quarter 
of  a  Century  ago — The  hideous  Corpse  of  Paganism— The  Deeds  of 
Despots — Legendary  Exploit  of  an  Hawaiian  Gracchus — Sole  Feature  of 
Humanity  in  the  System  of  Paganism — Human  Sacrifices — Numbers 
once  Immolated — Last  at  Kealakekua — Comparison  of  Christianity  with 
Paganism— Incredible  Change— The  Theme  of  Song— The  transforming 
Agent — Investment  of  a  Massachusetts  Wheelwright — How  to  make 
1* 


10  CONTENTS. 


eighteen  hundred  per  cent,  by  a  Donation  to  Missions— Death  and  Life 
springing  from  the  same  Bay  of  Kealakekua — Sketches  of  Obookiah — 
Providential  Voyage  to  America,  and  Adoption  at  Cornwall — Other 
Links  in  the  Chain  of  Providence  —  Adventures  of  Thomas  Hopu  — 
Hopes  from  the  Cornwall  School — Natural  Disappointment — The  Heart 
of  the  Pacific  in  1820  and  1850— Blessedness  of  the  Change Page  34 

CHAPTER  III. 

LAHAINA  AND   ITS   ENVIRONS   ON  THE  ISLAND  OF  MAUI. 

Good-bye  to  Hawaii — Grateful  Eeminiscences — The  Continental  Character 
of  Missionaries— Portraiture  of  a  good  Priest — Bun  to  Maui  by  Whale- 
ship — Facilities  for  Kecruiting  at  Lahaina — Seamen's  Chaplain — Gratu 
itous  Services  of  Missionaries — Sailors  always  careless  when  not  cared 
for — 'Winding  up  of  a  Liberty-day  at  Lahaina,  in  the  season  of  Ships — 
An  honorable  Pre-eminence — Hawaiians  a  Surf-playing — Sea-bathing  a 
national  Passion — A  young  Forest  of  Cocoanuts — Improvements  under 
the  old  System  of  Tyranny  an  Invitation  to  Eobbery  and  Extortion — 
Eevolution  in  Progress — Its  benign  Effects — Love's  Labor  never  Lost 
— Solace  to  the  Philanthropist  in  the  event  of  the  Nation's  Decease — 
Lahaina  at  the  poetic  Distance  and  close  at  Hand — Native  Stone  Meet 
ing-house — Power  of  the  Gospel  there — Liberality  and  Means  of  the 
Church  —  Array  of  Arguments  for  the  People  supporting  their  own 
Ministers — Peculiar  Advantages  at  Lahaina — The  Hawaiian  Democracy 
-^-Eemarkable  running  out  of  the  Eace  of  Eulers— ^Precious  Dust  in 
God's- Acre  —  Character  and  Influence  of  the  High  Chief  Hoapili  —  A 
striking  Anecdote — Vistas  of  Prophecy  opened — Tendency  of  Things 
— Cheering  Progress 59 

CHAPTEE  IV. 

THE  FOOTSTEPS   OF  BEAUTY  TRACED  BY  A  TRAVELLER  IN  NATURE,    LANGUAGE, 
AND   RELIGION. 

A  Canoe  takes  us  to  Wailuku — Elements  of  the  Beautiful  at  Home  and 
Abroad — Morning  on  the  Mountain — Effect  of  natural  Scenery  upon 
Childhood— Curious  Hawaiian  Etymologies— A  Catalogue  of  queer  Ap 
pellatives—The  peculiar  Genius  and  Idioms  of  the  Hawaiian  Tongue — 
Words  to  be  domesticated  into  English — Conversational  Uses  of  the 
Native — Commendable  Solicitude  of  Hawaiians  for  the  Purity  of  their 
Language — Classical  Discussion  at  an  Assembly  of  Teachers — Fear  of 
barbarous  Innovations  from  Abroad-r-A  Book  of  Fables  suggested — 
Their  Uses  illustrated — Isaac  Taylor  on  the  Employment  of  the  Esopian 
Vehicle  of  Instruction— Notices  of  the  Wailuku  Church  and  Pastor — 


CONTENTS.  11 


Eesolutions  for  the  independent  Support  of  the  Ministry — Praiseworthy 
instance  of  Hawaiian  Gratitude — Mr.  Green's  Experiment  at  Makawao 
— Beneficial  Eesults  —  Eeasonings  of  Natives  —  Union  of  Faith  and. 
Works — Affecting  Tests  of  Christianity — Kesolves  of  Pastors  prepara 
tory  to  Independency — Initiatory  Steps — Eemarkable  Consummation  in 
the  Jubilee  Year  of  the  Nineteenth  Century Page  82 

CHAPTEE  V. 

A   GLANCE   AT  THE   PROVINCE   AND   RESULT   OF   MISSIONS  IN   THE  HEART  OF  THE 
PACIFIC,  AND   A   VISIT  TO   THE   PALACE   OF  THE   SUN. 

A  passing  Tribute  to  the  true  modern  Apostles — Character  of  Protestant 
Civilization — Theory  and  Practice  at  Wailuku. — History  and  Progress  of 
the  Female  Seminary — Province  of  Woman  in  the  work  of  Civilization 
— How  fulfilled — Examination  of  Schools — Hawaiian  Girls — Trip  to  the 
Crater  of  Hale-a-ka-la — We  reach  the  Brim — Novel  Scene  opened  at  the 
T0p — Spectacle  of  Grandeur  and  Glory  presented  by  the  Clouds — A 
Play-ground  for  the  Youth  of  Heaven — Feelings  belonging  to  such  a 
Position— Man's  Nothingness  and  the  Creator's  Glory — Ehapsody  of 
Eowland  Hill — Luther's  View  of  the  majestic  Vault  of  God — Lesson  we 
learned  from  the  lofty  Look-out  of  Hale-a-ka-la — A  Sight  from  the  Cliffs 
of  Eternity — Montgomery's  Imprecation — We  are  let  down  safely — We 
pass  to  the  Sugar-making  on  East  Maui — Farming  Lands — Horseback 
Eoute  through  Haiku — Sand-hills  and  ancient  Golgotha — Eeflections  on 
a  Skull — Evidence  of  former  Culture  and  dense  Population — Present 
Eecord  of  Deaths  and  Births — Mortality  of  the  Year  1848  by  Measles — 
Culture  of  Eice  by  Chinamen — Fine  Appearance  of  the  Garden  and 
Terraces  of  Wailuku — Entertainment  at  the  Seminary — Sports  with  the 
Children 102 


CHAPTEE  VI. 

SKETCHES    OF   THE    BLIND    PREACHER    AND    THE    BIRTH-PLACE    OF    KAAHUMANU, 
IN  EAST  MAUI. 

The  Law  of  Compensation  illustrated — Memorials  of  the  first  Convert  to 
Christianity — His  Birth  and  Boyhood— Early  Deformity  and  Loss  of 
Sight— Skill  in  the  Hula — Adoption  by  the  Court  as  a  Buffoon — Aban 
doned  to  perish — Dawning  of  the  Day-spring — He  hears  of  Christ — He 
turns  to  the  Pono — The  Chiefs  send  for  him  to  make  Sport — Memorable 
Answer — Journal  respecting  him  —  Affecting  Attitude  —  Divine  Sov 
ereignty  exemplified — Probation  for  the  Church — Eecord  of  his  Exami 
nation — First-fruits — He  grows  and  endures — Light  breaks — Light  is 
withdrawn — He  is  thrown  upon  Memory — He  hides  the  Word  of  God 


12  CONTENTS. 


— Acquires  extraordinary  Strength  and  Tenacity  of  Memory — Labors 
effectively  with  the  Missionaries — Is  licensed  to  preach  the  Gospel — 
Account  of  one  of  his  Sermons — Power  as  a  Preacher — Surprise  of  the 
Missionaries — Eesources  of  Illustration — Ministry  in  Honuaula — Life 
and  Death — We  pass  and  ponder  his  Field  of  Labor — Supposed  Mental 
Exercises  in  his  Blindness — We  proceed  to  Hana — Eemarkable  Eoad 
over  Clinkers — How  made,  and  by  whom — After-streams  from  the  Vol 
cano—The  Warfare  of  a  Night— Victory  to  the  Ukulele— A  Chief  of  the 
olden  Time — A  Dance  at  Kaupo — Perils  by  Can oe— S ketches  of  the  Mis 
sionary  Station  of  Hana — Natural  Features  and  Productions — Eiding 
up  to  the  Clouds — Cave  where  Kaahuinanu  was  born — Two  strange 
Things  in  the  Kingdom  of  Nature  and  Kingdom  of  Grace — A  volcanic 
Bathing-house Page  127 

CHAPTEK  VII. 

ADVENTURE,   ESCAPE,   AND  AURIVAL  AT  MOLOKAI. 

We  embark  in  the  double  Canoe — Sudden  Catastrophe — Men  swept  over 
board — A  special  Providence — How  we  are  saved — A  Traveller's  Hymn 
— Emotions  of  Gratitude  and  Impulses  of  Obedience — Behavior  of  the 
Natives — Effect  of  Familiarity  with  Danger— Eemark  of  Butler— The 
Psalm  of  Life — The  fatal  Sequel  of  another  Disaster — Conflict  with  the 
Sharks — They  win  the  Day — The  Eaft  rises — Few  escape — We  gain  the 
Eeef— Lagoons  for  Fish — How  to  make  abstract  Numbers  concrete — 
Eeefs  described — Spiritual  Analogies  and  Lessons  derived — Eules  for 
the  Navigator— The  Divine  Pilot— Ocean  of  Futurity— Site  of  the  Mo- 
lokai  Mission — Head-quarters  of  ^Eolus — A  Missionary's  Grapery — The 
two  Vineyards,  Natural  and  Moral — Division  of  Labor — Church  and 
School — Industrial  Enterprise — The  Maids  of  Molokai — Native  Costume 
versus  the  Foreign — Court  Fashion  and  Eules  of  Dress — The  Queen's 
Way  of  Conformity — Criticism  on  the  fashionable  Habiliments  of  the 
Sex — Honest  Eemonstrance  and  Satire  by  Dana 152 

CHAPTEE  VIII. 

THE  CORAL  MASONRY  AND   CORALS   OF  MOLOKAI  AND   OTHER  PARTS   OF  THE 
ISLAND   WORLD    OF  THE   PACIFIC. 

Curious  Work  of  Zoophytes  —  Sub-marine  Gardens  described  —  Living 
Specimens  exhibited — Letting  a  Crab  out  of  Prison — How  the  Corals 
grow — Theory  for  the  Formation  of  a  Coral  Island — The  Tumuli  of  a 
buried  Continent  —  Evidence  of  a  re-elevatory  Process  —  Geological 
Phenomena  not  accounted  for — Observations  of  Williams,  the  Martyr 
of  Eromanga — Effect  of  Electricity  in  precipitating  the  Particles  of 


CONTENTS.  13 


Lime  in  Sea-water— Instances  adduced — The  Part  it  may  have  in  the 
Formation  of  Eeefs — Views  of  Sir  David  Brewster  examined — Mixture 
of  Fancy  and  Fact — Experiments  of  Peyronnel — Philosophical  Analysis 
— Secrets  of  Nature's  Laboratory — Kesults  of  Coral  Architecture — As 
tonishing  Amount  of  Matter  solidified — Observations  of  Captain  Flinders 
—Conditions  necessary  to  the  Perfection  of  Coral— The  Coral  Builders 
watched— Work  described— Banks  reared— World-matter— Half-way 
Island— Coral  Formations  of  Kimatara— Honolulu  Beef— Mediterranean 
and  Red  Sea  Coral— Bate  of  Growth— Effect  of  Light— Agents  that  re 
duce  it — Indian  Ocean  Coral — Appearance  of  a  Beef  between  the  Tides 
— Millions  of  Worms  observed — Facts  gathered  from  Navigators — Coral 
of  Prose  and  of  Poetry — Moss  Corals  by  the  Microscope — Zoophytic 
Tribes  classified  by  the  Geologist  of  the  U.  S.  Exploring  Squadron- 
Scientific  Deductions— Fejee  Island  Beefs  described— Vast  Size  of  in 
dividual  Specimens — Notices  of  the  Kingsrnill  Group — Vast  Depth  of 
Soundings  off  the  Beef — Uses  of  Coral— Natural  and  ^Esthetic  Ends 
served Page  175 


CHAPTEB  IX. 

REMINISCENCES   OF  LAHAINALUNA,   AND  SKETCHES   OF  THE  FIRST  HAWAIIAN 
COLLEGE. 

We  recross  the  Molokai  Channel  by  Canoe — Sketch  of  an  Hawaiian  Col 
lege — Internal  Economy  and  Discipline — Origin  and  History — Faculty 
and  Course  of  Study— Intention  of  the  Founders— Ability  and  Useful 
ness  of  the  first  Graduates — Laws  ahead  of  Morals — Wisdom  not  always 
married  to  the  Wise — Prudence  not  limited  to  the  Prudential — A  Bevo- 
lution  in  Progress — Signs  of  the  Times — Entente  Cordiale — Natural 
Differences  of  Opinion  among  Missionaries — A  Pastor's  Expedient  to 
sound  the  Knowledge  of  his  Flock — Great  Difficulty  of  being  simple 
enough  in  the  exhibition  of  Truth — Bemarkable  Answers  of  Natives — 
Heathen  Destitution  of  common  Ideas — Consequent  Inappreciation  of 
Scripture — Similar  Experience  of  Missionaries  in  the  East — Bemarkable 
Cases  in  Proof— Fruits  of  the  great  Bevival — Beasonings  of  practical 
Men — Sources  of  correct  Information — How  to  find  the  Meridian  of 
Truth — Illustration  from  the  working  of  Longitude  by  Lunars  ....  198 


CHAPTEB  X. 

HAWAIIAN  LITERATURE   AND   LETTER- WRITERS. 

Number  of  printed  Works  in  the  Hawaiian  Tongue — Literary  Contribu 
tions  of  Natives — Newspapers  in  the  Vernacular — An  original  Work  on 


CONTENTS. 


Hawaiian  History — Installation  of  Native  Ministers — A  Collection  of  old 
Meles — Translation  of  an  original  Song  on  the  Creation — Specimens  of 
Cupid's  Epistolography — Letter  from  a  Damsel  of  Laliaina — Others  from 
Students  of  the  Seminary — Samples  of  the  Hawaiian  Madrigal — A  Let 
ter  from  the  Hilo  School-girls — Others  from  Teachers  in  Kohala — Cu 
rious  Vernacular  Idioms — Letters  from  Men  of  Hawaii  to  a  Society  of 
Ladies  in  America — Comments  and  Correspondences — Unique  Epistle 
from  a  Native  Teacher — Ingenuous  working  of  regenerated  Minds — A 
Study  for  the  Philosopher  —  A  Trophy  of  Triumph  for  the  Christian 
—  Other  Specimens  of  Hawaiian  Literature  —  Cheering  Proofs  of 
Progress Page  221 


CHAPTER  XL 

BIDE   ABOUND   THE   ISLAND    OF   OAHU,  AND   NOTES   BY   THE   WAY. 

We  return  to  Honolulu — Festivities  of  the  Anniversary  of  Independence 
— Effect  upon  Public  Morals — Natural  hankering  after  the  Leeks  and 
Flesh-pots  of  Heathenism — Converts  from  Paganism  now  and  in  the 
Apostles'  day,  one  and  the  same — Comparison  Instituted — We  mount 
for  Kaneohe — Visit  by  the  Way  to  the  Country  Villa  of  the  King  and 
Chiefs — Work,  Trial,  and  Eeward  of  the  Pastor  at  Kaneohe — Mistaken 
Timidity  in  admitting  to  the  Church — Arguments  for  and  against — Cor 
roborative  Views  of  Isaac  Taylor — Practical  working  of  an  open  Church 
Polity  and  a  close  one  contrasted — Going  to  Egypt  for  the  Corn  of 
Scandal — Much  ado  about  Nothing— Leonato  to  Antonio — We  halt  at 
Waialua — Contrasts  of  Natural  Scenery — Kaneohe  the  supposed  Pit  of 
an  old  Volcano — Toilsome  Descent — Picturesque  View  from  its  Brink — • 
Face  of  the  Country  between  the  two  Stations — Hospitality  of  a  Teacher 
at  Hauula — Deportment  of  Natives,  met  with  on  the  Way — The  stale 
Charge  of  Hypocrisy  considered — No  new  Thing  for  Eeligion  to  be 
pressed  into  the  Service  of  Selfishness — Examples  of  double  Dealing  in 
the  Pacific,  by  Foreigners — Prevalent  Forms  of  Self-deception  among 
the  Natives — Causes  assigned — Treatment  of  Cases  when  discovered — 
Eigor  of  Church  Discipline — The  Usages  of  the  Church  an  Education 
for  Eepublicanism — The  future  Eepublic  of  the  Pacific — A  Prophecy 
ventured  *. 244 


CHAPTEE  XII. 

SIDE  VIEWS   OF   HAWAIIAN   CHARACTER  AND   DESTINY. 

Relative  Position  and  Fortunes  of  the  Posterity  of  Shem  and  Japheth— 
Practical  Bearing  upon  the  Labors  of  Missionaries — The  ground  Princi- 


CONTENTS.  15 


pie  of  Success — Variety  of  Talents  called  into  Exercise — How  to  be  be 
loved  and  useful — Study  of  Books  versus  the  Study  of  Human  Nature 
—  Something  had  and  Something  wanting  at  Waialua  —  A  Maxim 
gathered  from  Observation — Management  of  Cases  of  Casuistry — A 
common  Weakness  commented  upon — Difference  of  Behavior  between 
sentimental  and  genuine  Sorrow — The  acting  of  a  fine  Mind  when  Sin 
or  Grief-stricken,  and  that  of  a  coarse  Mind— The  Hawaiian  Infirmity 
illustrated  by  a  Fact— The  Pea-hen  everywhere— Native  Volubility  and 
Destitution  of  Shame— Charities  of  the  Waialua  Church— A  Manual  La 
bor  School — How  established  and  why  abandoned — We  journey  to  Ewa 
— A  successful  Experiment  at  Self-support — Kemarkable  Proof  of  Dis 
interestedness — Progress  reported — Honor  to  whom  Honor  is  due — Fact 
and  Cause  of  the  Nation's  Decay — Alarming  Statistics — Eeport  of  a  Com 
mittee  on  Moral  Eeform— Eesponsibility  of  Foreigners  who  have  fed  the 
National  Vice— Moral  Strength  of  the  Government  now  and  formerly — 
Suppression  of  Vice  the  Duty  of  Magistrates— Plea  of  Virtue  and  Hu 
manity — Sophisms  of  the  Selfish  and  Impure — Eighteous  Seasonings 
of  the  Duke  in  the  moral  Play  of  Measure  for  Measure Page  262 


CHAPTEE  XIII. 

RETROSPECTIVE  VIEW  OF  A  QUARTER  CENTURY  IN  THE  HEART  OF  THE 
PACIFIC. 

We  join  Ship  and  weigh  Anchor — Life  and  the  World  seen  from  Below 
and  from  Aloft — Differences  in  the  View  made  by  Differences  in  the 
Position- and  personal  Estate  of  the  Beholder — Light  from  Eternity  col 
ored  by  the  stained  Glass  of  the  Mind — Hope  for  the  Convalescent — • 
Holding  a  Telescope  t$  the  Past — The  great  Landmarks — Astonishing 
Statistics  of  Progress — Consecutive*  Eeview  of  Civilization  and  Chris 
tianity  in  the  Heart  of  the  Pacific — Detail  of  Eesults  and  Fruits,  Eco 
nomic,  Literary,  and  Eeligious — Work  to  be  done  Projected — True  Eela- 
tion  and  Uses  of  the  Sandwich  Islands  to  America — Necessary  leaning 
of  the  one  upon  the  other  for  Years  to  come — Disastrous  Effects  to  be 
apprehended  if  the  Prop  should  be  withdrawn — The  true  Policy  of  the 
Christian  Church  in  the  Missionary  Enterprise — Purposes  of  Providence 
in  the  Island  World — Chain  of  Events — Outlook  upon  the  Future — 
Probable  Type  of  Society — Transplanted  Puritanism — Strict  Sabbath- 
keeping — Anecdote  of  the  Governor  of  Oahu — Facts  illustrative  of  Na 
tional  Habits — First  Law  the  Decalogue — A  Change  too  great  to  be 
credited — To  whom  and  what  the  People  ascribe  it — Unbounded  Con 
fidence  reposed  in  their  religious  Teachers — First  Experiments  by  the 
Chiefs — Fruits  of  the  Trial — Unparalleled  Instance  of  a  moral  Ascend 
ancy — Illustrative  Anecdote  of  the  present  King — Traducers  silenced 


16  CONTENTS. 


and  put  to  Shame — Position  of  Dignity  and  Eminence — How  attained 
and  the  Ends  to  be  answered  by  it — Eelations  of  the  Hawaiian  Islands 
to  China,  California,  Mexico,  and  South  America — Vista  of  Futurity 
opened — Conjectures  ventured — Ground  of  their  Fulfilment  —  False 
hoods  met — Shafts  of  Calumny  repelled — Counter  Testimony — Histo 
rians  noticed — Volume  concluded Page  283 


APPENDIX. 

Tabular  Statistics  of  Exports  and  Imports  at  the  Sandwich  Islands  for 
1850 — Eesources  and  Ee venue  of  the  Hawaiian  Kingdom — Government 
Expenses,  Trade  and  Commerce  —  Tabular  View  of  Educational  and 
Eeligious  Progress — Commercial  Position  and  Advantages  of  Honolulu 
— Eeview  and  Summary  of  the  French  Difficulties — Documentary  His 
tory  of  the  Negotiations  with  France — Eules  of  Conference,  Protocols, 
and  final  Declaration — Appeal  to  the  United  States — Progress  of  the 
Anglo-Saxon  Eace — Copy  of  the  late  Treaty  with  the  United  States — 
Notes — Professor  Agassiz  on  Corals — Speculations  as  to  their  Uses — 
Testimony  of  Sir  George  Simpson  and  E.  C.  Wyllie  to  the  Value  of  the 
Hawaiian  Mission — Extraordinary  Eesults  in  Molpkai 


LIST  OF  ENGEAVINGS. 

KEALAKEKUA  BAY  IN  THE  DAYS  OF  CAPTAIN  COOK. Frontispiece* 

KAAHUMANU,  QUEEN  DOWAGER  OF  THE  HAWAIIAN  ISLANDS 

IN  1820 Vignette  Title. 

CHART  OF  THE  HAWAIIAN  ISLANDS To  face  p.     19. 

OLD  HAWAIIAN  IDOLS "        "        28. 

LAHAINA  AND    LAHAINALUNA   FROM    THE    ANCHORAGE    AT 

MAUI .» "        "        62. 

THE  HAWAIIAN  SPORT  OF  SURF-PLAYING "        "        66. 

VALLEY  AND  MOUNTAINS  OF  WAILUKU "        "     126. 

A  SANDWICH  ISLANDS  DOUBLE  CANOE p.  174. 

A.  CIRCULAR  CORAL  ISLAND  OF  THE  PACIFIC p.  197. 


LIFE  TN  THE  SANDWICH  ISLANDS, 


CHAPTER  I. 

LOCAL   TRADITIONS    OF    CAPTAIN    COOK,    AND    GLIMPSES    OF    OLD 
PAGANISM    IN    THE    HEART    OF    THE    PACIFIC. 

GLIDING  through  Magellan's  Straits, 
Where  two  oceans  ope  their  gates, 
Now  th'  immense  Pacific  smiles 
Round  ten  thousand  sunny  Isles. 

A  notable  wonder— Curious  fancies  of  the  Natives  respecting  the  first  Ship— They  ven 
ture  nigh  in  Canoes — They  recognize  their  god  Lono — They  pay  divine  worship  to 
Captain  Cook— They  grow  familiar  with  the  Haoles— They  smart  under  indignities 
and  exactions — The  bent  bow  snaps — They  are  undeceived — The  denouement — He 
groans— He  is  not  a  god— The  fight— The  fall— The  retreat— The  burning  of  the 
navigator's  body — The  exploits  of  Phillips — The  narrative  of  Ledyard — The  revenge 
— The  providence — We  stand  where  Cook  fall — We  visit  the  spot  where  his  body 
was  burned — Monumental  inscription — Natural  reflection  upon  his  end — Forms  of 
the  old  idolatry — Pagan  notions  respecting  the  soul — The  realms  of  Wakea  and  Milu 
— Providence  and  Grace  in  the  Heart  of  the  Pacific. 

THREESCORE  and  thirteen  years  ago  there  appeared  in 
the  serene  waters  of  a  far  island  in  the  Pacific  a  notable 
wonder,  which  has  been  succeeded  by  a  greater  wonder  • 
still.  Two  ships,  significantly  called  the  Eesolution  and 
Discovery,  cast  anchor  in  an  unknown  bay,  called  by 
its  aborigines  Kaawaroa,  or  Kealakekua.  They  were 
commanded  by  an  intrepid  navigator,  of  the  most  in 
trepid  and  daring  race  that  has  ever  ploughed  the  seas. 
Their  prowls  had  ventured  into  strange  oceans,  and  had 
broken  the  primeval  stillness  of  bays  and  roadsteads 


20  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

which  are  now  whitened  with  the  wings  of  Commerce, 
and  struck  by  the  propellers  of  mighty  Steamers,  then 
an  idea  all  unknown  but  to  the  Creative  Mind  who  has 
since  given  the  steamboat,  through  Fulton,  as  a  be 
nignant  boon  to  our  race. 

These  adventurous  ships  had  anchored  in  the  night, 
as  upon  the  coast  of  an  undiscovered  country,  with 
thoughts,  perhaps,  like  those  which  a  navigator  in  a 
balloon  would  now  have,  whose  anchor  should  catch  at 
midnight  on  some  floating  island  of  the  great  ocean 
of  air.  In  the  morning,  when  the  natives  on  shore  first 
beheld  the  strange  sight,  they  were  wild  with  amaze 
ment  and  conjecture.  Unable  to  tell  whence  the  wonder 
came,  or  what  it  was,  or  how  to  express  their  astonish 
ment  at  the  sight,  they  cried  out,  "  Moku !  moku !"  the 
Hawaiian  word  for  island,  as  if  it  were  a  moving  island ; 
and  that  is  their  name  for  a  ship  to  the  present  day. 

Then,  as  they  gazed  from  a  distance  at  the  ship's 
towering  masts  and  branching  spars,  they  exclaimed, 
"  It  is  a  forest  that  has  moved  into  the  sea  !"  Soon  the 
chiefs  commanded  some  of  their  men  to  go  in  canoes 
and  find  out  what  this  wonderful  thing,  this  new  moku, 
,  might  be.  They  approached  so  near  as  to  survey,  with 
curious  dread,  the  different  parts  of  the  ship  and  the 
men  on  board ;  and  then  they  returned,  all  wild  with 
excitement,  and  with  the  vain  effort  of  their  undis 
ciplined  minds,  to  describe  what  they  had  seen. 

They  had  beheld  the  strangers  as  they  looked  over 
the  ship's  sides  eating  something  red,  (being  water 
melon  from  Monterey,)  and  to  their  imagination  it  was 


STKANGE   FANCIES   OF   THE   NATIVES.  21 

the  raw  flesh  of  men :  they  had  seen  fire  and  smoke 
about  their  mouths  from  cigars,  and  they  reported  them, 
therefore,  to  be  Fire-gods — gods  of  the  Yolcano.  They 
told  in  an  exaggerated  manner  of  the  whiteness  of  their 
skin,  the  brightness  of  their  eyes,  their  garments  rough 
and  strange,  their  heads  horned  like  the  moon,  and  their 
speech  all  unintelligible  gibberish — "  A  hikapalale,  hi- 
kapalale — hioluai,  oalakai." 

The  fire,  they  said,  burns  at  their  mouths  like  Pele — 
the  Volcano.  They  have  doors  in  their  sides  for  prop 
erty  ;  openings  going  far  down  into  their  bodies,  where 
they  thrust  their  hands,  and  draw  knives,  and  iron,  and 
beads,  and  cloth,  and  nails,  and  every  thing  else,  for 
their  bodies  are  full  of  treasure.  Then  a  warrior  by  the 
name  of  Kapupuu,  hearing  of  the  great  quantity  of  iron 
about  the  ships,  (which  they  had  learned  the  value  of 
by  what  had  occasionally  drifted  ashore  in  strange 
pieces  of  wood,)  at  once  said,  "I  will  go  and  seize  the 
iron,  for  plunder  is  my  business."  He  boldly  went,  ac 
cording  to  his  boast,  but  while  in  the  act  of  purloining 
was  shot.  Then  the  cluster  of  canoes  with  him  fled,  and 
reported  that  Kapupuu  was  slain  by  a  fire-ball,  a  pu 
from  the  volcano — the  pu  being  the  only  instrument  like 
a  gun  which  they  were  acquainted  with. 

The  succeeding  night  there  was  a  discharge  of  cannon 
from  on  board  the  ships,  and  a  display  of  fire-works  that 
filled  up  the  measure  of  wonder  and  dread  in  the  minds 
of  those  rude  barbarians.  Unable  to  believe  any  thing 
else  than  that  the  new-comers  were  supernatural  beings, 
they  called  the  Captain  Lono,  that  being  the  name  of 


22  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

a  fabled  god  of  theirs  who  had  gone  into  a  foreign  land, 
and  now  they  supposed  had  come  back. 

It  was  a  tabu-week  with  them,  when  canoes  were 
ordinarily  forbidden  from  being  on  the  sea,  and  it  was 
death  to  be  seen  in  one  at  such  a  time.  But  when  they 
saw  Lono's  moku  there — the  moving  island  of  their 
god — they  were  not  afraid  to  use  their  canoes,  because 
their  god  had  come  to  them,  and  his  ship  must  be  a 
heiau,  a  temple.  When  they  observed  the  seamen 
calking  the  sides  of  the  vessels,  they  called  them  Mo- 
kualii's  company,  Mokualii  being  the  god  of  canoe- 
makers.  Those  who  had  fire  at  their  mouths  they  de 
nominated  Lono-pele-poe,  or  Lono's  volcano-company. 

But  every  wonder  has  its  day  and  its  end,  and  fa 
miliarity  with  the  haole,  as  they  called  the  strangers,  at 
length  began  to  breed  dislike,  if  not  contempt,  on  the  part 
of  the  eager  natives.  They  found  the  foreigners  to  be 
like  themselves  in  lusts  and  covetousness,  if  superior 
in  power.  At  length  the  unwarranted  act  of  the  great 
Lono  in  breaking  down  the  wooden  fence  of  their  sacred 
morai,  or  heiau,  and  loading  his  boats  with  it,  in  order 
to  supply  his  ships  with  wood,  provoked  their  indigna 
tion  beyond  the  power  of  their  superstitious  dread  of 
the  gods  to  restrain. 

Thefts,  reprisals,  insults,  and  bloodshed  followed 
quick  upon  one  another,  until  a  deep,  uncontrollable  re 
sentment  was  kindled  among  the  natives.  But  Captain 
Cook — for  he  was  the  Lono,  even  according  to  the  nar 
rative  of  Ledyard,  one  of  his  men,  who  landed  with 
him  on  the  morning  of  his  death,  and  was  near  him 


HOMAGfE   PAID  TO   CAPTAIN   COOK.  23 

during  the  fatal  contest — blinded  by  some  fatal  cause, 
could  not  perceive  it,  or,  too  self-confident,  would  not 
regard  it. 

There  is  an  historical  work  of  much  value  written  in 
the  Hawaiian  tongue,  a  few  years  ago,  by  some  of  the 
early  adult  pupils  of  the  Seminary  at  Lahaina-luna,  and 
called  Ka  Moolelo  Hawaii.  Its  materials  were  derived 
from  old  men  then  living,  and  the  accounts  they  gave 
were  afterwards  compared  and  corrected  by  their 
teacher,  Rev.  Sheldon  Dibble,  until  a  valuable  au 
thentic  volume  grew  therefrom.  The  authors  of  this 
say,  that  owing  to  their  conviction  that  Lono  (Captain 
Cook)  was  a  god,  the  people  generally  paid  him  divine 
honors.  They  offered  him  hogs,  food,  Jcapa,  (native 
cloth,)  and  other  articles,  as  they  were  accustomed  to 
bestow  them  on  their  deities,  not  expecting  any  thing 
in  exchange.  The  priests  approached  him  with  pros 
trations,  and  cast  their  red  kapa  over  his  shoulders ; 
then  receding  a  little,  they  presented  hogs,  and  a  variety 
of  other  offerings,  with  long  addresses  rapidly  enunci 
ated,  which  were  a  repetition  of  their  prayers  and  re 
ligious  homage. 

"  If  on  any  occasion  he  went  inland,  the  mass  of  the 
people  fled  through  fear,  while  all  who  remained  fell 
down  and  worshipped  him.  He  was  led  into  the  houses 
and  temples  of  the  gods,  and  worshipped  there  also ; 
and  all  this  adoration  was  received  without  remon 
strance,  as  in  the  case  of  Herod.  "Wherefore,  some, 
perhaps,  may  think  for  this  cause,  and  for  another  al 
ready  mentioned,  he  was  smitten  of  God,  and  died." 


24  LIFE  IN  THE  SANDWICH  ISLANDS. 

These  were  the  circumstances  of  that  melancholy 
event,  as  gathered  from  the  Moolelo  Hawaii,  and  the 
Life  of  Ledyard :  In  a  contest  that  ensued  after  the 
demolition  of  the  morai  by  Captain  Cook,  the  stealing 
of  one  of  the  ship's  boats,  and  the  killing  of  a  chief  in 
a  canoe,  by  a  shot  from  one  of  the  ships,  the  Captain 
imprudently  struck  a  high  chief  with  his  sword.  Upon 
this  the  chief,  Kalaimano-Kahoowaha,  seized  him  in 
stinctively  with  his  powerful  grasp  in  order  to  hold  him, 
but  with  no  idea  of  taking  his  life,  Lono  being,  in  his 
view,  a  god  that  could  not  die.  But  when  he  struggled 
to  free  himself,  and  groaned  as  he  was  about  to  fall,  the 
chief  cried,  "  He  groans,  he  is  not  a  god,"  and  instantly 
slew  him. 

The  fight  then  became  general,  in  which  many  of  the 
natives  were  killed  and  some  of  the  Captain's  guard.  In 
the  end  the  savages  were  routed  and  fled  inland,  taking 
with  them  the  bodies  of  the  fallen  Navigator,  and  four 
of  his  companions.  The  king  there  presented  the  body 
of  the  captain  in  sacrifice  to  the  gods,  and  after  that 
ceremony  was  performed,  they  proceeded  to  remove  the 
flesh  from  the  bones  in  order  to  preserve  them.  The 
flesh  was  consumed  by  fire;  the  heart  was  eaten  by 
some  children  who  had  mistaken  it  for  the  heart  of  a 
dog.  Their  names  were  Kupa,  Mohoole,  and  Kaiwi- 
kokoole,  one  of  whom  was  living  only  a  few  years  ago. 
Some  of  the  bones  of  the  dead  were  afterwards  returned 
to  the  ship,  and  the  rest  preserved  by  the  priests,  and 
worshipped. 

Ledyard's  account  of  the  same  transactions  is  this : 


THE   NAKRATIVE   OF   LEDYAKD.  25 

"  Cook,  perceiving  the  people  determined  to  oppose  his 
designs,  and  that  he  should  not  succeed  without  further 
bloodshed,  ordered  the  lieutenant  of  marines,  Mr.  Phil 
lips,  to  withdraw  his  men  and  get  them  into  the  boats, 
which  were  then  lying  ready  to  receive  them.  This  was 
effected  by  the  sergeant ;  but  the  instant  they  began  to 
retreat  Cook  was  hit  with  a  stone,  and  perceiving  the 
man  who  threw  it,  he  shot  him  dead.  This  occasioned  the 
guard  to  face  about  and  fire,  and  then  the  attack  be 
came  general.  Cook  and  Mr.  Phillips  were  together,  a 
few  paces  in  the  rear  of  the  guard,  and  perceiving  a 
general  fire  without  orders,  quitted  Teraiobu,  and  ran 
to  the  shore  to  put  a  stop  to  it ;  but  not  being  able  to 
make  themselves  heard,  and  being  close  pressed  upon 
by  the  chiefs,  they  joined  the  guard,  who  fired  as  they 
retreated. 

"  Cook  having  at  length  reached  the  margin  of  the 
w^ater,  between  the  fire  of  the  boats,  waved  with  his  hat 
for  them  t<^  cease  firing  and  come  in ;  and  while  he  was 
doing  this,  a  chief  from  behind  stabbed  him  with  one  of 
our  iron  daggers,  just  under  the  shoulder-blade,  and  it 
passed  quite  through  his  body.  Cook  fell  with  his  face 
in  the  water,  and  immediately  expired.  Mr.  Phillips 
not  being  able  any  longer  to  use  his  fusee,  drew  his. 
sword,  and  engaging  the  chief  whom  he  saw  kill  Cook, 
soon  dispatched  him. 

"  His  guard,  in  the  mean  time,  were  all  killed  but  two, 
and  they  had  plunged  into  the  water  and  were  swim 
ming  to  the  boats.  He  stood  thus  for  some  time  the  butt 
of  all  their  force,  and  being  as  complete  in  the  use  of 

2 


26  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

his  sword  as  he  was  accomplished,  his  noble  achieve 
ments  struck  the  barbarians  with  awe.  But  being 
wounded,  and  growing  faint  from  loss  of  blood  and  ex 
cessive  action,  he  plunged  into  the  sea  with  his  sword 
in  hand  and  swam  to  the  boats ;  where,  however,  he 
was  scarcely  taken  on  board,  before  somebody  saw  one 
of  the  marines  that  swam  from  the  shore,  lying  flat  upon 
the  bottom.  Phillips,  hearing  this,  threw  himself  in 
after  him,  and  brought  him  up  with  him  to  the  surface 
of  the  water,  and  both  were  taken  in. 

"  The  boats  had  hitherto  kept  up  a  very  hot  fire,  and 
lying  off  without  the  reach  of  any  weapon  but  stones, 
had  received  no  damage ;  and,  being  fully  at  leisure  to 
keep  up  an  unremitted  and  uniform  action,  made  great 
havoc  among  the  Indians,  particularly  among  the 
chiefs,  who  stood  foremost  in  the  crowd  and  were  most 
exposed.  But,  whether  it  was  from  their  bravery,  or 
ignorance  of  the  real  cause  that  deprived  so  many  of 
them  of  life,  that  they  made  such  a  stand,  may  be  ques 
tioned,  since  it  is  certain  that  they  in  general,  if  not 
universally,  understood  heretofore,  that  it  was  the  fire 
only  of  our  arms  that  destroyed  them. 

"  This  opinion  seems  to  be  strengthened  by  the  cir 
cumstance  of  the  large,  thick  mats  they  were  observed 
to  wear,  which  were  also  constantly  kept  wet;  and, 
furthermore,  the  Indian  that  Cook  fired  at  with  a  blank 
discovered  no  fear,  when  he  found  his  mat  unburnt, 
saying,  in  their  language,  when  he  showed  it  to  the 
bystanders,  that  no  fire  had  touched  it.  This  may  be 
supposed  at  least  to  have  had  some  influence.  It  is, 


THE   SPOT   WHERE   COOK   FELL.  27 

however,  certain,  whether  from  one  or  both  these 
causes,  that  the  numbers  that  fell  made  no  apparent 
impression  on  those  who  survived ;  they  were  imme 
diately  taken  oif,  and  had  their  places  supplied  in  a 
constant  succession. 

"Lieutenant  Gore,  who  commanded  as  first  lieutenant 
under  Cook  in  the  Kesolution,  which  lay  opposite  the 
place  where  this  attack  was  made,  perceiving,  with 
his  glass,  that  the  guard  on  shore  was  cut  oif,  and  that 
Cook  had  fallen,  immediately  passed  a  spring  upon 
one  of  the  cables,  and,  bringing  the  ship's  starboard 
guns  to  bear,  fired  two  round-shots  over  the  boats  into 
the  middle  of  the  crowd ;  and  both  the  thunder  of  the 
cannon  and  the  effects  of  the  shot  operated  so  power 
fully,  that  it  produced  a  most  precipitate  retreat  from 
the  shore  to  the  town." 

It  will  be  seen  thus  that  the  two  records,  Hawaiian 
and  English,  of  the  melancholy  transactions  which  give 
such  unwonted  interest  to  this  spot,  substantially  agree. 
Hereafter  pilgrim  tourists  in  the  Pacific  visiting  this 
place,  will  find  it  replete  with  historical  associations 
mellowed  by  time ;  and  glowing  perhaps  with  enthu 
siasm,  they  will  quote  the  oft-reiterated  words  of  John 
son  : — Far  from  me  be  such  frigid  philosophy  as  would 
conduct  us  indifferent  or  unmoved,  over  any  ground 
dignified  by  wisdom,  bravery,  or  virtue. — But,  although 
I  have  trodden  the  lava  rock  where  the  justly  incensed 
barbarians  slew  the  great  navigator,  calling  aloud,  "  He 
groans, — he  is  not  a  god ;"  and  have  swum  in  the  Bay's 
blue  waters  at  that  very  point ;  and  have  read  the  cop- 


28  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

perplate  inscriptions  upon  the  stump  of  the  memorable 
cocoanut-tree  put  there  by  British  men-of-war ;  and 
have  been  to  the  place  further  inland,  where  a  rude 
monument  tells  us  that  his  flesh  was  burned ; — yet  at 
neither  locality  could  I  start  productively  the  medita 
tive  or  heroic  mood. 

Perhaps  it  is  because  the  imaginative  notions  of  my 
boyhood,  respecting  the  Great  Captain  and  Discoverer 
in  the  Island  World  of  the  Pacific,  have  been  reluctant 
ly  corrected  by  the  more  accurate  information  obtained 
here  on  the  spot  in  Hawaii-nei.  The  footprints  Cook 
has  left  on  the  sands  of  time,  great  as  he  was  in  many 
respects,  will  never  wear  out ;  but  the  place  and  the 
manner  of  his  death  we  should  contemplate  less  pain 
fully,  had  the  illustrious  navigator,  whose  blood  three 
score  and  ten  years  ago  crimsoned  these  peaceful  wa 
ters,  done  more  to  direct  the  untaught  natives  to  the 
Great  Jehovah,  instead  of  receiving  divine  homage 
himself. 

God  will  not  have  his  glory  given  to  another,  nor 
will  he  with  impunity  let  selfish  gain  be  made  out  of 
the  principle  of  reverence  for  higher  powers,  which 
himself  has  implanted  in  the  human  constitution. 
Captain  Cook  wrongly  attempted  this,  although,  as 
we  would  fain  believe,  not  aware  to  what  extent  the 
offerings  paid  him  were  meant  as  homage  to  a 
God.  Hence,  in  the  order  of  retributive  Providence, 
his  ignominious  death  at  the  hands  of  the  very  in 
censed  barbarians  whom  he  had  allowed  to  worship 
him. 


FORMS   OF   THE   OLD   IDOLATRY.  29 

A  glimpse  of  the  besotted  idolatry  which  the  abo 
rigines  of  this  Island  Kingdom  of  Hawaii  were  then 
addicted  to,  and  of  the  moral  state  of  Hawaii  AS  IT  WAS, 
may  b.e  gathered  from  the  engravings  we  give  of  some 
of  their  idol  gods. 

It  is  "a  matter  of  curious  interest  to  the  philosopher, 
in  tracing  the  origin  of  the  religious  and  mythological 
notions  of  different  savage  tribes,  to  observe  how  they 
are  always  modified  by  the  physical  objects,  usages, 
and  scenery  with  which  they  are  chiefly  conversant. 
The  most  terrific  and  impressive  of  all  visible  things 
to  Hawaiians  being  the  Volcano,  or  Lua  Pele,  and  its 
cause  unknown,  they  attributed  all  its  phenomena  to 
gods  there  living,  and  those  gods  their  imaginations 
made  like  unto  themselves. 

Thus,  the  conical  craters  in  the  bed  of  the  volcano 
they  regarded  as  the  houses  of  their  gods,  where  they 
amused  themselves  by  playing  at  Jconane,  the  favorite 
Hawaiian  game  of  drafts.  .  The  roaring  of  the  volca 
no's  furnaces,  and  the  crackling  of  its  sulphurous 
flames,  were  deemed  by  them  the  Jsani  to  the  hula  of 
their  gods,  that  is,  the  music  of  their  dances,  which  were 
naturally  attributed  to  them,  from  their  own  addicted- 
ness  to  the  same.  The  red  flaming  surge  in  the  cal 
dron  of  the  volcano  they  called  the  surf,  where  their 
gods  played  like  themselves  with  gurf-boards  on  the 
great  Pacific  rollers. 

In  like  manner,  the  Greenlanders  and  Esquimaux  of 
the  Arctic  regions,  when  first  visited  by  Moravians,  be 
lieved  every  thing  in  heaven  to  be  after  the  pattern  of 


30  LIFE   IN   THE    SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

things  on  their  earth ;  and  they  found  it  difficult  to  be 
satisfied  with  the  IBible  promise  of  the  Christian  heav 
en,  because  it  did  not  contain  seals.  The  arch  of  heav 
en,  in  their  view,  turns  round  on  the  pivot  of  a  high, 
sharp  peak,  far  to  the  north.  The  Great  Bear  they 
compare  to  a  sort  of  bench,  on  which  they  fasten  their 
ropes  and  harpoons  for  the  capture*  of  seal.  The  belt 
of  Orion  consists  of  Greenlanders,  who  were  placed 
there  because  they  could  not  find  the  way  to  their 
own  country.  The. Pleiades  are  howling  dogs,  which 
surround  a  white  bear.  The  red  stars  take  their  color 
from  eating  seals5  livers,  the  white  from  eating  seals' 
brains.  The  Northern  Lights  are  caused  by  the  souls 
of  the  dead  playing  at  ball.  In  the  sky  there  is  an 
immense  lake,  confined  by  a  dam ;  when  the  water 
overflows  this  dam,  it  rains ;  and  if  the  dam  should 
break,  heaven  would  fall,  and  crush  the  earth. 

The  deities  worshipped  by  Hawaiians  were  called 
by  the  general  name  Akua,  and  the  number  of  them 
was  unlimited,  expressed  by  their  word  Jkini.  Mr. 
Dibble  says  the  Hawaiians  had  six  deities  to  whom 
they  gave  names,  but  oftener  addressed  only  four, 
Ku,  Lono,  Kane,  and  Kanaloa.  After  naming  these 
four,  and  sometimes  six,  they  then  added  the  expres 
sion,  the  forty  thousand,  and  the  four  hundred  thou 
sand  gods,  meaning  an  indefinite  number. 

These  deities  they  regarded  as  spirits  who  had  their 
residence  above,  or  in  the  clouds.  They  attributed  to 
them  all  the  proud,  fierce,  cruel,  and  impure  passions 
of  men ;  and  supposed  them  of  course  to  delight  in  the 


OLD     HAWAIIAN    IDOLS 


HAWAIIAN   NOTIONS   OF   THE   SOUL.  31 

sufferings,  and  in  the  immolation  even  of  human  victims. 
The  people  worshipped  them  usually  by  means  of  idols, 
supposing  that  after  the  performance  of  certain  cere 
monies  on  the  images,  they  became  repositories,  or  at 
least  suitable  remembrancers  of  the  spirits  above.  The 
people  deny  that  they  actually  worshipped  the  wood 
and  the  stone,  and  to  explain  their  use  of  images,  they 
refer  at  once  to  the  practice  of  the  Romanists  with  pic 
tures  and  symbols. 

"  In  regard  to  the  soul,  they  had  very  inadequate  and 
confused  notions.  They  supposed  that  after  death  the 
soul,  or  rather  the  ghost,  lingered  for  some  time  about 
the  deceased  body,  haunted  in  dark  places,  and  made 
its  attempts  occasionally  in  the  night  to  strangle  its 
enemies.  If  any  one  was  afflicted  in  the  night  with  the 
incubus,  or  night-mare,  he  regarded  it  as  the  attack  of 
some  ghost  upon  his  throat.  On  the  evening  of  a  dark 
night  I  heard  a  horrid  shriek  in  the  street ;  it  was  that 
of  a  strong,  athletic  man  running  with  all  speed,  with 
both  hands  at  his  throat,  endeavoring  to  tear  something 
away.  He  soon  reached  the  door  of  a  house,  burst  his 
way  in,  and  fell  on  the  floor,  terrified  even  to  faintness 
and  insensibility.  He  imagined  that  the  ghost  of  a 
chief,  who  had  deceased  the  day  before,  had  a  firm 
gripe  upon  his  throat,  and  was  about  to  strangle  him."* 

The  old  Hawaiian  notion  of  a  future  state  was,  that 
after  death  the  ghost  went  first  to  the  region  above  be 
longing  to  Wakea,  the  name  of  their  fir.st  progenitor. 

*  History  of  the  Sandwich  Islands,  by  Sheldon  Dibble,  p.  99. 


32  LIFE    IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

If  in  this  life  the  man  had  observed  religious  rites  and 
ceremonies,  the  ghost  was  allowed  to  remain  there  in 
comfort  and  pleasure  with  Wakea.  But  if  the  dead 
had  failed  to  be  religious  here,  the  soul  found  no  one 
there  in  the  region  of  Wakea  to  entertain  it,  and  was 
forced  to  take  a  desperate  plunge  into  a  place  of  misery 
below  ruled  by  one  they  called  Milu. 

There  are  several  precipices  from  the  verge  of  which 
unhappy  souls  were  formerly  supposed  to  take  the  leap 
into  the  world  of  woe.  Three  in  particular  are  pointed 
out  to  the  traveller :  one  at  the  northern  extremity  of  the 
island  of  Hawaii,  one  at  the  western  termination  of 
Maui,  and  a  third  at  the  southern  point  of  Oahu. 

We  can  hardly  believe  that  the  confused  and  indis 
tinct  notions  of  the  Hawaiians  respecting  a  future  state, 
or  their  absurd  system  of  mythology,*  at  all  prepared 

*  Idols  were  of  every  variety  imaginable,  from  hideous  and  deformed 
sculptures  of  wood,  to  the  utmost  perfection  of  their  art.  The  features 
of  their  religion  were  embodied  in  these  images ;  the  most  desired  object 
In  their  manufacture  being  to  inspire  fear  and  horror,  sentiments  which 
in  a  more  refined  people  would,  from  such  exhibitions,  have  been  con 
verted  into  disgust.  Pele  was  the  chief  goddess.  Her  principal  followers 
were  Ka-ma-hu-alii,  the  King  of  Steam  and  Vapor ;  Ka-poha-i-kahi-ola, 
the  Explosion  in  the  palace  of  life ;  Ke-ua-ke-po,  the  Rain  of  night ; 
Kane-kekili,  Thundering  god ;  Ke-o-ahi-kama-kaua,  Fire-thrusting  child 
of  war.  These  were  brothers,  and,  like  Vulcan,  two  of  them  were  de 
formed.  Ma-kole-wawahi-waa,  Fiery-eyed  canoe-breaker;  Hiaka-wawahi- 
lani,  Heaven-dwelling  cloud-breaker ;  and  several  others  of  longer  names 
and  similar  definitions ;  these  latter  were  sisters. 

The  whole  family  were  regarded  with  the  greatest  awe.  The  volcano 
was  their  principal  residence,  though  occasionally  they  renovated  their  con 
stitutions  amid  the  snows  of  the  mountains.  On  such  occasions  their  jour 
neys  were  accompanied  by  earthquakes,  eruptions,  heavy  thunder  and 
lightning.  All  were  malignant  spirits,  delighting  in  acts  of  vengeance  and 


FABLES   OF   THE   PAGAN   MYTHOLOGY.  33 

them  to  receive  the  revelations  of  Christianity.  But  as 
it  was  the  work  of  Divine  Providence  to  make  a  way 
for  the  entrance  of  Divine  truth,  externally,  so  was  it 
the  work  of  the  Divine  Spirit  internally  to  procure  its 
reception  to  a  degree,  so  unprecedented  and  remarkable, 
by  the  mind  and  heart  of  the  Hawaiian  nation.  Some 
of  the  steps  in  that  process,  and  the  triumphant  issue  of 
the  same  in  the  Heart  of  the  Pacific,  we  will  endeavor 
to  trace  in  succeeding  chapters  that  shall  present  the 
Island  Kingdom  of  Hawaii  AS  IT  is. 

destruction.  Many  tributes  were  assessed  to  avoid  or  appease  their  anger ; 
the  greater  part  of  which  went  to  support  the  numerous  and  wealthy 
priesthood  and  their  followers,  who  regulated  the  worship  of  Pele.  These 
were  held  in  the  highest  reverence,  as  holding  in  their  power  the  de 
vouring  fires  of  the  all-powerful  goddess.  To  insult  them,  break  their 
taboos,  or  neglect  to  send  offerings,  was  to  call  down  certain  destruction. 
At  their  call,  Pele  would  spout  out  her  lava  and  destroy  the  offenders^ 
Vast  numbers  of  hogs,  both  cookeS  and  alive,  were  thrown  into  the  crater 
when  any  fear  of  an  eruption  was  entertained,  or  to  stay  the  progress  of 
one  commenced.  Offerings  were  annually  made  to  keep  her  in  good  hu 
mor,  and  no  traveller  dared  venture  near  her  precincts  without  seeking 
her  good-will. — History  of  the  Hawaiian  Islands,  by  James  Jackson 
Jarves,  pp.  28,  29.  Honolulu,  1847. 

2* 


34  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 


CHAPTER  II. 

KEALAKEKUA  BAY  NOW  AND  THIRTY  YEARS  AGO. 

• 

TILL  missionaries'  feet  made  glad 
The  solitudes  by  sin  made  sad ; 
Till  songs  to  Christ  took  place  of  cries, 
Shrieked  o'er  the  monarch's  sacrifice, — 
No  good  was  there, — no  Godhead's  beam, 
No  light  did  o'er  the  future  gleam. 

TAPPAN. 

The  trail  from  Kailua — Observed  wealth  of  nature — Insight  of  the  spiritual  through 
the  veil  of  the  natural— Analogy  drawn  and  lessons  derived— We  view  the  ocean 
from  on  high— Coffee  plantation  of  a  man  from  Maine— A  relic  from  the  times  of 
Kamehameha  the  Great — The  premises  of  a  missionary  heave  in  sight — Primitive 
hospitality — City  of  refuge  at  Honaunau — The  lona  of  Hawaii — Ellis's  account  of  it 
quarter  of  a  century  ago — The  hideous  corpse  of  paganism — The  deeds  of  despots — 
Legendary  exploit  of  an  Hawaiian  Gracchus — Sole  feature  of  humanity  in  the  sys 
tem  of  paganism — Human  sacrifices — Numbers  once  immolated — Last  at  Kealake- 
kua — Comparison  of  Christianity  with  paganism — Incredible  change — The  theme  of 
song— The  transforming  agent — Investment  of  a  Massachusetts  wheelwright — How 
to  make  eighteen  hundred  per  cent,  by  a  donation  to  missions — Death  and  life 
springing  from  the  same  Bay  of  Kealakekua — Sketches  of  Obookiah — Providential 
voyage  to  America,  and  adoption  at  Cornwall— Other  links  in  the  chain  of  Provi 
dence—Adventures  of  Thomas  Hopu— Hopes  from  the  Cornwall  school— Natural 
disappointment— The  Heart  of  the  Pacific  in  1820  and  1850— Blessedness  of  tho 
change. 

IN  order  that  we  may  survey  in  this  Chapter  more 
minutely  an  interesting  portion  of  the  Hawaiian  Heart 
of  the  Pacific,  I  will  take  the  reader  upon  my  trail 
from  Kailua,  Hawaii,  to  Kealakekua,  on  the  same  great 
Island.  The  path  runs,  for  six  miles  along  the  sea, 
through  villages  of  cocoanut-palm  groves,  from  which^ 
the  bronzed  inhabitants,  with  little  else  than  the  habil- 


ASPECTS   OF   NATURE   AND   ITS   LESSONS.  35 

iraents  of  nature,  peeped  and  stared  upon  a  stranger, 
as  I  came  that  way,  with  curious  eyes.  I  passed  two 
snug  little  bays  that  used  to  be  favorite  resorts  of 
Kamehameha  the  Great,  in  one  of  which  was  his  bath 
ing-place,  tabu  to  every  one  else,  and  the  Jieiau  and 
house  of  his  favorite  war-god  Kaili. 

At  Kiauhou,  the  path  turned  inland  two  miles,  up  a 
rugged  hill  of  lava,  in  ascending  which,  the  beast  I 
rode  made  as  much  ado  as  if  he  had  been  brought  up 
on  a  Brussels  carpet  or  an  English  lawn,  instead  of  the 
hoof-hardening  pastures  of  Kailua.  The  path  was 
slightly  worn  by  the  bare  feet  of  the  natives,  much  as 
the  stone  toe  of  St.  Peter  at  Rome  is  kissed  smooth  by 
the  worshippers  of  baptized  Jupiter  Capitolinus.  On  both 
sides  were  heaps  and  depressions  of  rough  scoria  and 
slag,  great  boulders  of  lava,  black  broken  masses, 
crumbling  cylinders,  and  spheroidal  volcanic  stones, 
the  surface  of  which  had  been  fused,  and  in  some 
places  had  peeled  off  like  a  crust  or  shell,  while  the 
centre  of  some  of  them  was  of  a  dark-blue  color  and 
compact  texture,  and  did  not  appear  to  have  been  at 
all  affected  by  the  fire  which  had  reduced  the  surface. 

Jammed  into  clefts  of  lava,  wrhere  there  seems  not  a 
particle  of  sand  or  earth,  you  may  see  there  the  splen 
did  pink-white  caper,  (capparis,)  with  its  hundred  sta 
mens,  and  delicious  odor,  and  light-green  leaves,  lav 
ishing  alone  its  fragrance  and  beauty  upon  rough, 
unsightly  rocks.  Even  so,  perhaps  Jeremy  Taylor 
would  say,  have  I  seen  beauty  adorning  the  face  of 
deformity,  virtue  flourishing  amid  vice,  and  the  wealth 


LIFE    IN   THE   SANDWICH    ISLANDS. 


of  warm  affections  and  generous  natures  spent  unpaid 
upon  selfish,  sterile  hearts.  So,  I  would  rather  say,  it 
is  the  way  of  benignant  nature  to  show  the  affluence  of 
her  resources,  to  reveal  the  might  and  glory  of  a  crea 
tive,  wonder-working  God. 

"  She  has  a  world  of  ready  wealth, 
Our  minds  and  hearts  to  bless ; 
Spontaneous  wisdom  breathed  by  health, 
Truth  breathed  by  cheerfulness." 

No  one  who  has  been  through  the  barren  parts  of 
Hawaii,  or  East  Maui,  can  fail  to  have  noticed  this 
beautiful  shrub;  how,  as  by  elective  affinity,  it  chooses 
those  unwatered,  desolate  tracts  of  lava,  where  there  is 
not  a  green  thing  else  to  sympathize  with  it,  or  be  its 
rival.  There  have  I  often  observed  it  cheerfully  exhal 
ing  its  odors  and  hues,  not  unheeded  by  God  and  his 
angels,  though  unnoticed  of  men.  Even  like  a  retir 
ing,  virtuous  woman — 

"  Wisely  she  shuns  the  broad  way  and  the  green, 
And  with  those  few  is  eminently  seen, 
That  labor  up  the  hill  of  heavenly  truth. 
Her  care  is  fixed,  and  zealously  attends 
To  fill  her  odorous  lamp  with  deeds  of  light, 
And  hope  that  reaps  not  shame." 

A  half  hour  of  such  travel,  as  slow  as  it  could  be 
and  yet  be  called  motion,  brought  me  in  sight  of  sil 
very  Jcukuis  and  the  oak-green  bread-fruit  tree,  with  its 
eight-lobed  leaves  and  golden  fruit.  At  half  past  ten 
I  reached  a  beautiful  table-land,  where,  by  the  lapse  of 


MAN    FROM   MAINE   VS.    ROMISH    PRIEST.  37 

time  and  the  action  of  frequent  rains,  the  lava  has  be 
come  disintegrated,  and  covered  over  with  a  prolific 
soil.  The  sight  of  the  plain  of  ocean,  noiseless  in  the 
distance,  whitened  here  and  there  by  the  sail  of  a  fish 
ing-canoe,  and  extending  off  in  its  azure  glory,  till  it 
seemed  to  rise  up  into  an  eminence  high  as  that  I  was 
riding  upon,  was  very  beautiful. 

I  stopped  a  while  to  rest  at  the  place  of  a  man  from 
Maine,  who  was  discharged  here  from  a  ship  in  1811, 
and  entered  into  the  service  of  Kamehameha,  who 
gave  him  his  lands.  Injiie  evening  of  his  days  he  has 
become  a  member  of  the  church.  When  under  disci 
pline,  a  few  years  ago,  for  intoxication,  he  was  address 
ed  by  a  Romish  priest  at  Kailua  :  "  The  missionaries 
have  turned  you  out  of  the  church  for  drinking,  have 
they  ?"  "  Yes,"  he  replied.  "  I  deserved  it ;  for  I 
could  not  go  to  the  table  of  the  Lord  defiled  with 
sin." 

The  Jesuit  rejoined,  "You  have  committed  no  crime. 
God  is  willing  we  should  enjoy  ourselves,  and  what  is 
the  harm  of  drinking  a  little  brandy  ?  God  will  for 
give  you.  These  missionaries  are  keeping  you  in  fet 
ters  and  superstition.  I  wish  to  see  you  at  liberty  and 
enjoy  yourself.  If  you  will  only  join  my  church,  I 
will  pledge  my  honor  that  you  shall  never  be  turned 
out."  Disgusted  with  such  a  gross  attempt  to  flatter 
and  seduce  him,  the  man  retorted,  somewhat  warmly, 
"  Yes  ;  and  I  suppose  the  devil  would  not  turn  me  out 
of  hell,  if  he  got  me  there  !"  He  is  now  restored,  and 
is  living  in  good  standing  with  the  native  church. 


38  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

Coffee  is  being  extensively  cultivated  by  this  man 
and  his  son-in-law.  The  tree,  laden  with  fruit  and  ruf 
fled  leaves,  its  branches  proceeding  from  the  trunk  hor 
izontally,  and  filled  out  to  the  end  with  red  coffee-ber 
ries,  looting  very  much,  when  ripe,  like  the  cranberry, 
is  a  very  beautiful  specimen  of  tropical  vegetation,  de 
serving  to  be  cultivated  for  its  looks  alone.  The  tree 
here  is  said  to  be  from  twenty  months  to  three  years 
in  attaining  its  maturity.  It  will  then  bear,  I  am  told, 
two  crops  a  year  for  twenty  years.  It  is  usually  cut 
off  at  the  top  when  about  five  and  a  half  or  six  feet 
high,  and  will  then  produce  about  a  peck  of  berries  at 
a  time,  or  ten  pounds  of  dried  coffee  annually,  which 
sells  here  for  two  reals  or  more  a  pound. 

After  a  delay  at  this  plantation  of  a  couple  of  hours, 
I  proceeded  hither  by  a  path  shaded  with  oliias,  bread 
fruit,  and  kukuis.  Long  before  reaching  it,  the  mis 
sionary  establishment  hove  in  sight,  with  its  thatched 
roofs  and  whitened  walls,  and  an  air  of  taste  and  culti 
vation  giving  just  promise  of  hospitality,  intelligence, 
and  piety.  My  guide  and  baggage-carrier  had  reached 
here  before,  so  that  I  found  a  room  and  entertainment 
ready,  with  a  missionary's  cordial  welcome  to  it. 
Would  that  every  Christian  wayfarer  could  find  where- 
e'er  he  wanders,  for  health  or  to  do  God's  will,  hospi 
tality  as  grateful  and  cheering ! 

There  is  a  passage  in  "  Colman's  Christian  Antiqui 
ties,"  in  regard  to  the  hospitality  of  primitive  Chris 
tians,  which  I  have  often  read  with  pleasure,  and  will 
quote  here,  because  it  is  so  happily  paralleled  in  what 


PKIMITIYE   CHRISTIAN    HOSPITALITY.  39 

I  am  now  experiencing  among  missionaries  :  "  The  fol 
lowers  of  Christ,  how  widely  soever  they  were  scattered 
throughout  the  world,  were  then  united  as  one  great 
family,  and  agreeing,  as  they  did,  in  the  happiness  and 
spirit  of  concord,  to  regard  any  local  varieties  of  cus 
tom  as  matters  of  indifference,  kept  up  a  constant  and 
friendly  correspondence  with  all  the  branches  of  the 
Church  universal ;  so  that,  whenever  any  of  them  went 
abroad,  either  on  their  own  private  affairs,  or  on  mis 
sions  connected  with  the  state  and  progress  of  religion, 
they  were  received  with  open  arms  by  the  Christians 
of  the  place  as  brethren. 

"Go  under  whatever  name  they  might,  and  travel  to 
remotest  place-s,  among  people  of  foreign  manners  and 
an  unknown  tongue,  the  pilgrims  of  the  faith  were  sure, 
wherever  they  met  with  a  Christian,  to  find  a  friend, 
whose  house  would  be  thrown  open  for  their  reception, 
whose  table  would  be  spread  for  their  entertainment, 
and  who  would  welcome  them  with  a  warmer  heart 
and  a  kindlier  smile,  than  they  were  often  met  with  by 
their  kinsmen  and  acquaintances  at  home.  They  were 
treated  by  the  family  that  received  them  as  one  of 
themselves,  had  their  feet  washed  by  the  wife  on  their 
first  arrival,  and  at  their  departure  were  anxiously  and 
tenderly  committed  to  the  divine  care,  in  a  prayer  by 
the  master  of  the  house." 

On  the  other  side  of  this  Bay  of  Kealakekua,  and  off 
to  the  south,  is  the  celebrated  old  Puhonua  or  Hawaiian 
city  of  refuge,  at  Hpnaunau,  the  ancient  residence  of 
kings,  where  Kalaimoku,  he  that  was  afterwards  called 


40  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

the  Iron  Cable  of  Hawaii,  fled  for  refuge  after  the  san 
guinary  battle  that  made  Kamehameha  the  Great  sov 
ereign  of  the  whole  island.  I  say  celebrated,  because 
this  and  one  of  the  same  kind  in  Waipio,  Kohala,  are 
the  only  sanctuaries  of  the  kind  ever  known  to  have 
existed  among  pagans  ;  and  this  has  been  frequently 
spoken  of  by  missionaries  as  a  unique  object  among 
the  ruins  of  Paganism,  to  be  contemplated  with  unu 
sual  interest. 

"When  Ellis  visited  it  in  the  year  1824,  there  was 
standing  within  it  a  house  called  the  House  of  Keawe, 
which  would  seem  to  have  been  to  Hawaii  what  lona 
was  to  Scotland — a  sacred  depository  of  the  bones  of 
departed  kings  and  princes,  probably  first  erected  for 
the  custody  of  his  remains  whose  name  it  bore,  a  king 
that  reigned  in  Hawaii  about  eight  generations  back. 
By  pushing  one  of  the  boards  across  the  doorway  a 
little  on  one  side,  Mr.  Ellis  says  they  could  look  in 
and  see  many  large  images,  some  of  wood  very  much 
carved,  others  of  red  feathers,  with  wide-distended 
mouths,  large  rows  of  sharks'  teeth,  and  glaring  pearl- 
shell  eyes.  They  also  saw  several  bundles  apparently 
of  human  bones,  cleaned,  carefully  tied  up  with  cinet 
made  of  cocoanut  fibres,  and  placed  in  different  parts 
of  the  house,  together  with  some  rich  shawls  and 
other  valuable  articles,  probably  worn  by  those  to 
whom  the  bones  belonged,  as  the  wearing  apparel  and 
other  personal  property  of  the  chiefs  is  generally 
buried  with  them. 

On  the  outside  of  the  inclosure  there  were  rudely 


GRIM   RELICS   OF   PAGAKISM.  41 

carved  male  and  female  images  of  wood,  some  on  low 
pedestals  under  the  shade  of  an  adjacent  tree,  others 
on  high  posts  on  the  jutting  rocks  that  overhung  the 
edge  of  the  water.  "  At  the  southeast  end  of  the  in 
closed  place  twelve  of  them  stood  in  grim  array, 
forming  a  semicircle,  %as  if  perpetual  guardians  of  the 
mighty  dead  reposing  in  the  house  adjoining.  Once 
they  had  evidently  been  clothed,  but  now  they  ap 
peared  in  the  most  indigent  nakedness.  A  few  tatter 
ed  shreds  round  the  neck  of  one  that  stood  at  the  left- 
hand  side  of  the  door,  rotted  by  the  rain,  and  bleach 
ed  by  the  sun,  were  all  that  remained  of  the  numer 
ous  and  gaudy  ornaments  with  which  their  votaries 
had  formerly  arrayed  them. 

"  A  large  pile  of  broken  calabashes  and  cocoanut- 
shells  lay  in  the  centre,  and  fragments  of  kapa,  the 
accumulated  offerings  of  former  days,  formed  an  un 
sightly  mound  before  each  of  the  images.  The  horrid 
stare  of  these  idols,  the  tattered  garments  upon  some 
of  them,  and  the  heaps  of  rotten  offerings  before  them, 
seemed  no  improper  emblems  of  the  system  they  were 
designed  to  support ;  distinguished  alike  by  its  cruel 
ty,  folly,  and  wretchedness." 

The  traveller  at  this  day  sees  none  of  these  hideous 
relics  of  the  corpse  of  Paganism,  that  was  then  just  slain, 
and  lay  rotting,  unburied,  like  a  carcass  thrown  to  car 
rion-birds.  To  visit  here  at  that  time,  was  like  looking 
down  into  one  of  those  wide  pits  of  living  death  and 
festering  decay,  into  which  Defoe  says  they  used  to 
cast  the  victims  of  the  great  plague  in  London.  It 


42  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

was,  as  it  were,  stepping  into  the  very  rank  tomb  of 
idolatry,  where  the  horrid  monster  had  been  lately 
tumbled  all  naked  and  gory,  weltering  in  his  own 
blood  and  foulness,  as  he  had  long  revelled  in  that  of 
his  murdered  victims — 

" besmeared  with  blood 


Of  human  sacrifice,  and  parents'  tears." 

There  now  remain  only  a  low  fence  of  posts,  and  the 
stone  walls  of  the  irregular  parallelogram  that  consti 
tuted  the  Place  of  Befuge.  These  are  715  feet  long, 
404  feet  wide,  about  12  feet  high,  and  15  feet  thick. 
Holes  are  still  visible  on  the  parapet  or  raised  terrace, 
where  large  images  formerly  stood  about  four  rods 
apart,  through  the  whole  extent.  There  are  fragments 
of  lava  in  these  walls  that  must  be  of  two  or  more  tons 
weight  each,  six  or  eight  feet  above  the  ground,  which 
it  is  difficult  to  imagine  how  Hawaiians  could  have 
raised  (as  they  must)  without  machinery,  by  the  mere 
force  of  the  unassisted  human  hands.  But  the  des 
pots  here  of  old  knew  how  to  use  the  bones  and  sinews 
of  their  subjects  with  great  executive  effect,  in  hauling 
heavy  timber  for  their  idols,  and  putting  "up  immense 
Twiaus,  as  well  as  to  give  their  bodies  a  sacrifice  to 

"  The  devils  they  adored  for  deities," 

whenever  the  priest*  or  their  own  caprice  called  for 
the  Moloch  offering. 

*  If  a  temple  was  to  be  built,  the  people  had  the  stones  to  collect 
for  the  walls,  and  the  timber  and  posts  to  put  up ;  they  had  the  thatch- 


FEAT   OF   AN   HAWAIIAN   GRACCHUS.  43 

Sometimes  jthey  made  their  lives  so  bitter  with  hard 
bondage,  imposed  such  intolerable  burdens  upon  the 
abject  people,  and  bent  the  bow  of  their  servile  com 
pliance  so  far  that  it  suddenly  snapped,  with  death  to 
the  tyrant  that  strained  it.  In  the  mountainous  parts 
of  Kan  there  is  a  steep,  round  hill,  up  which  it  is  a 
tradition  among  the  people  that  a  chief  once  required 
his  subjects  to  drag  a  huge  log,  which  he  was  going 
to  set  up  there  for  his  idol,  to  overlook  all  the  land 
and  sea.  They  had  succeeded,  at  intervals  of  time,  in 
drawing  it  two-thirds  of  the  way  up,  when  some  Ha 
waiian  Gracchus,  heading  the  people,  and  gaining 
them  all  over  to  his  purpose,  laid  this  plan  to  get  rid 
of  their  task  and  task-master.  He  feigned  himself  ex 
traordinarily  zealous  in  forwarding  the  work,  got  all 
the  people  to  man  thejines,  and  then  approached  the 
chief,  who  sat  looking  on,  with  this  request — that  he 
would  but  put  his  shoulders  once  to  the  log  from  be 


ing  to  do  ;  a  levy  for  sustaining  the  service  was  made  on  them  of  hogs, 
cocoanuts,  bananas,  kapa,  red  fish,  bundles  of  baked  kalo,  fowls,  and 
other  articles.  The  priest  looked  at  the  king,  saying,  "  Let  there  be  men 
for  the  god."  The  king  consented.  "  Let  there  be  a  house  for  the  god." 
The  king  consented.  "  Let  there  be  land  for  the  god."  The  king  con 
sented.  Then  the  priest  addressed  the  king  again,  "Let  a  hog  be 
hanged  up  for  the  god ;  let  there  be  certain  fish  for  the  god  ;  the  first 
fish  for  the  god."  The  king  consented.  Then  the  priest  proceeded, 
"  Let  the  land  of  the  priest  be  sacred,  free  from  taxes ;  let  the  house  of 
the  priest  be  sacred,  no  one  wantonly  entering  it ;  in  short,  let  all  that 
belongs  to  the  priest  be  in  safety."  Thus  the  priest  says  to  the  king. 
The  king  and  the  priest  were  much  alike,  and  they  two  united  were  the 
nation's  main  burden. — Ka  Moolelo  Hawaii,  in  Hawaiian  Spectator,  vol. 
II.,  p.  440. 


4:4:  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

liind,  and,  at  a  given  signal  from  himsolf,  they  would 
all  strain  themselves  to  the  utmost,  and  at  one  pull 
run  it  up  to  its  place.  The  purblind  chief  consented, 
and  with  a  simultaneous  joyful  effort  they  started  the 
log  forward  a  few  feet,  and  then  suddenly  let  it  go 
back,  crushing  with  its  whole  length  and  weight  the 
body  of  their  oppressor,  and  thundering  down  the  side 
of  the  mountain,  as  on  the  slide  of  the  Alpnach,  till  it 
lodged  in  the  level  below,  where  they  say  a  part  of  it 
may  be  seen  to  this  day. 

But  to   return  to   the   PuTionua,*    at    Honaunau. 


*  The  Puhonuas  were  the  Hawaiian  Cities  of  Refuge,  and  afforded 
a  most  inviolable  sanctuary  to  the  guilty  fugitive,  who,  when  flying  from 
the  avenging  spear,  was  so  favored  as  to  enter  their  precincts.  This 
had  several  wide  entrances,  some  on  the  side  next  the  sea,  the  others 
facing  the  mountains.  Hither  the  man-slayer,  the  man  who  had  broken 
a  tabu,  the  thief,  and  even  the  murderer,  fled  from  his  incensed  pursuers, 
and  was  secure.  To  whomsoever  he  belonged,  and  from  whatever  part 
he  came,  he  was  equally  certain  of  admittance,  though  liable  to  be  pur 
sued  even  to  the  gate  of  the  inclosure.  Happily  for  him,  those  gates 
were  perpetually  open ;  and  as  soon  as  the  fugitive  had  entered,  he  re 
paired  to  the  presence  of  the  idol,  and  made  a  short  ejaculatory  ad 
dress  expressive  of  his  obligations  to  him  for  reaching  the  place  in 
safety. 

Whenever  war  was  proclaimed,  and  during  the  period  of  actual  hos 
tilities,  a  white  flag  was  unfurled  on  the  top  of  a  tall  spear,  at  each  end 
of  the  inclosure,  and  until  the  conclusion  of  peace,  it  waved  the  symbol  of 
hope  to  those  who,  vanquished  in  fight,  might  fly  thither  for  protection. 
It  was  fixed  a  short  distance  from  the  walls  on  the  outside,  and  to  the 
spot  on  which  this  banner  was  unfurled  the  victorious  warrior  might 
chase  his  routed  foes  ;  but  here  he  must  himself  fall  back.  The  priests 
and  their  adherents  would  immediately  put  to  death  any  who  should 
have  the  temerity  to  follow  or  molest  those  who  were  once  within  the 
pale  of  the  pahu  tabu;  and,  as  they  expressed  it,  under  the  shade  or 
protection  of  the  Spirit  of  Keawe,  the  tutelar  deity  of  the  place. 


A    PAGAN    HOUSE   OF    REFUGE.  45 

Whether  it  was  first  instituted  by  priests,  as  a  means 
of  increasing  their  power  by  binding  to  their  interests 
all  who  should  owe  safety  to  its  protection ;  or  by  some 
Hawaiian  Alfred,  in  order  to  mitigate  the  cruelty  of 
idolatry,  and  provide  an  offset  to  the  sanguinary  char 
acter  of  their  wars ;  or  whether  it  was  derived,  as  some 
suggest,  traditionally  from  the  Israelitish  cities  of  ref 
uge,  it  is  not  easy  to  determine.  However  the  institu 
tion  may  have  originated,  the  Place  of  Eefuge  itself  is 
an  interesting  spot,  which  no  visitor  on  this  side  of 
Hawaii  will  fail  of  going  to  see. 

The  grim  idols  that  received  the  man-slayer  within 
their  strangely-friendly  pale,  like  a  wolf  turning  his 
den  into  a  sheep-fold,  are  gone.  The  high-priests  of 
idolatry  are  all  dead,  and  there  are  few  surviving  who 
can  tell  you  any  thing  of  the  transactions  that  have 
taken  place  here.  The  Gospel  of  Christ  precluding 
and  extinguishing  murder  and  war,  supersedes  the  ne 
cessity  of  this  singularly  humane  feature  of  cruel  Pa 
ganism.  It  is  almost  too  great  a  tax  on  the  traveller's 


In  one  part  of  the  inclosure,  houses  were  formerly  erected  for  the 
priests,  and  others  for  the  refugees,  who,  after  a  certain  period,  or  at  the 
expiration  of  war,  were  dismissed  by  the  priests,  and  returned  unmo 
lested  to  their  dwellings  and  families  ;  no  one  venturing  to  injure  those 
who,  when  they  fled  to  the  gods,  had  been  by  them  protected.  The 
Puhonua  at  Honaunau  is  very  capacious,  capable  of  containing  a  vast 
multitude  of  people.  In  time  of  war,  the  females,  children,  and  old 
people  of  the  neighboring  district,  were  generally  left  within  it,  while 
the  men  went  to  battle.  Here  they  awaited  in  safety  the  issue  of  the 
conflict,  and  were  secure  against  surprise  and  destruction  in  the  event 
of  defeat. — Ellis' *s  Missionary  Tour  through  Hawaii,  pp.  137,  138. 


LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 


credulity  to  ask  him  to  believe  that  a  people  now  so  re 
markably  peaceable  and  gentle,  among  whom  the  safe 
ty  of  human  life  and  property  is  unparalleled  anywhere 
on  the  face  of  the  earth  —  that  only  one  generation  back 
they  were  the  warlike,  ferocious,  infanticide  race,  sacri 
ficing  each  other  to  their  gods,  which  unquestionable 
facts  make  them  to  have  been. 

The  last  human  sacrifices  are  said  to  have  been  made 
at  this  place  in  1818.  One  man  was  then  sacrificed  for 
putting  on  the  malo  (girdle)  of  a  chief,  one  for  eating  a 
forbidden  article  of  food,  one  for  leaving  a  house  that 
was  tabu  and  entering  one  that  was  not,  and  a  woman 
was  put  to  death  for  going  into  the  eating-house  of  her 
husband  when  intoxicated.  On  the  authority  of  na 
tives,  former  kings  have  immolated  eighty  victims  at 
once,  as  in  the  days  of  Umi,  whose  blood-thirsty  god, 
after  one  of  his  victories,  kept  calling  from  the  clouds, 
Give,  give,  until  the  priest  and  himself  were  all  that  re 
mained  of  his  train. 

In  the  revolution  so  marvellously  effected  at  these 
Islands,  how  remarkably  is  fulfilled  that  prediction  of 
Holy  "Writ  in  the  Prophecy  of  Zephaniah,  The  Lord 
will  FAMISH  all  the  gods  of  the  earth;  and  men  shall 
worship  him  every  one  from  his  place,  even  all  the 
ISLES  of  the  heathen  ! 

"When  the  first  band  of  missionaries  landed  at  Kai- 
lua,  only  fifteen  miles  from  this  Bay,  in  the  spring  of 
1820,  just  thirty-one  years  ago,  the  appearance  of  the 
natives  was  thus  described  by  one  of  that  heroic  com 
pany  :  —  "  A  first  sight  of  these  wretched  creatures  was 


HEROISM   OF   THE   FIRST   MISSIONARIES.  47 

almost  overwhelming.  Their  naked  figures  and  wild 
expression  of  countenance,  their  black  hair  streaming 
in  the  wind  as  they  hurried  the  canoe  over  the  water, 
with  all  the  eager  action  and  muscular  power  of  sava 
ges  ;  their  rapid  and  unintelligible  exclamations,  and 
whole  exhibition  of  uncivilized  character,  gave  to  them 
the  appearance  of  being  half-men  and  half-beast,  and 
irresistibly  pressed  on  our  minds  the  query  :  '  Can  tliey 
~be  men  ?  Can  they  le  women  ?  Do  they  not  form  a 
link  in  creation  connecting  man  with  the  brutes  T 
This,  indeed,  seemed  to  be  the  general  impression. 
The  officer  heading  the  boat  sent  to  the  shore,  on  his 
return  exclaimed,  as  he  ascended  the  deck,  c  Well,  if  I 
never  before  saw  brutes  in  shape  of  men,  I  have  seen 
the^m  this  morning ;'  and,  addressing  himself  to  some 
of  our  company,  added,  '  You  can  never  live  among 
such  a  people  as  this  :  we  shall  be  obliged  to  take  you 
back  with  us.' ': 

Some  of  their  number,  says  Mr.  Bingham,  with  gush 
ing  tears,  turned  away  from  the  spectacle.  "  Others,  with 
firmer  nerve,  continued  their  gaze,  but  were  ready  to  ex 
claim,  '  Can  these  be  human  beings  !  How  dark  and 
comfortless  their  state  of  mind  and  heart !  How  im 
minent  the  danger  to  the  immortal  soul,  shrouded  in 
this  deep  pagan  gloom  !  Can  such  beings'  be  civ 
ilized?  Can  they  be  Christianized?  Can  we  throw 
ourselves  upon  these  rude  shores,  and  take  up  our 
abode,  for  life,  among  such  a  people,  for  the  pur 
pose  of  training  them  for  heaven?'  'Yes,'  (they  re 
plied,)  though  faith  had  to  struggle  for  the  victory, 


48  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

'these  interrogations  could  all  be  answered  in  the  af 
firmative.'  ': 

These  were  the  hopes  of  the  pioneers  themselves, 
sustained  by  secret  refreshings  from  on  high,  and  their 
life  hid  with  Christ  in  God.  But  tell  us  now,  ye  men 
of  the  world,  judging  according  to  sense,  what  can 
these  humane  but  Quixotic  fanatics,  as  they  wrere  then 
deemed,  what  can  they  do  with  these  untutored  abjects 
of  humanity  in  the  remote  heart  of  the  Pacific  ?  What, 
think  you,  w^ill  become  of  them,  left  all  defenceless 
with  these  "  brutes  in  the  shape  of  men  ?"  Two  hus 
bands  and  wives  from  the  realm  of  Christendom,  un 
backed  by  navies,  unsupported  by  armies,  planting 
themselves  at  the  very  heart  of  the  most  abject  pagan 
ism,  among  a  horde  of  naked,  squalid  savages,  already 
doubly  brutified  and  debased  below  the  level  of  ordi 
nary  savageism,  by  contamination  from  those  moral  ul 
cers  which  had  been  bred  by  the  riffraff  of  civilization 
—what  shall  they  do  there  ? 

What  means  do  they  possess  of  transforming  such  mis 
erable  creatures  into  intelligent,  conscientious,  civilized 
and  Christianized  men  and  women  ?  Will  they  succeed  in 
the  experiment?  Or  will  they  fail ?  Will  the  labor  and 
money  expended  upon  them  be  thrown  away  to  no  pur 
pose  ?  Or,  going  forth  and  weeping,  bearing  precious 
seed,  wrill  they  come  again  with  rejoicing,  bringing  their 
sheaves  with  them  ?  Let  the  harvest  of  1850  answer, 
just  one  generation  from  the  deposit  of  the  first  gerrn : — 
TWENTY-TWO  THOUSAND  MEN  AND  WOMEN  IN  THE  CHRIS 
TIAN  CHURCH  ;  SEV:BNTEEN  THOUSAND  PUPILS  IN  CHRIS- 


MEANS   OF   THE   MARVELLOUS    CHANGE.  4{J 


TIAN  SCHOOLS  ;  and  their  contributions  in  the  year  1849, 
while  decimated  by  a  wasting  epidemic,  to  different 
religious  objects,  over  Seven  thousand  Dollars ! 

Statesmen  and  philosophers,  and  "socialist  reformers, 
have  started  innumerable  plans  and  theories  for  the 
improvement  of  our  race  and  the  reconstruction  of  so 
ciety.  But  while  we  behold  here  a  triumph  of  the 
Gospel  over  the  direst  combination  of  evil  influences, 
what  instance  is  there  oil  record,  in  the  annals  of  the 
human  family,  of  a  nation  emerging  from  barbarism 
by  any  other  means,  and  ascending  to  a  moral  position 
so  eminent,  in  a  single  generation  ?  Is  there  any  other 
agency  known  to  man,  but  the  "  foolishness  of  preach 
ing,"  capable  of  producing  such  results  ?  We  say 
with  certainty,  No,  there  is  not. 

Had  Napoleon  obtained  for  France  to  the  full  his 
three  wishes — "  I  desire  Ships,  Colonies,  and  Com 
merce" — they  would  never  have  done  for  France,  or  for 
the  countries  colonized  and  traded  witb,  what  Chris 
tianity  has  done  for  the  Island  Heart  of  the  Pacific. 
The  transformation  here  accomplished  is  little  less  than 

miraculous. 

0 

Never,  in  the  history  of  man,  has  so  great  a  change 
been  effected  in  so  short  a  time.  Where  robbery  and 
murder  but  a  fewT  years  ago  were  practised  as  trades, 
and  were  events  of  e very-day  occurrence,  life  and  prop 
erty  are  now  safer  than  under  any  long-established  gov 
ernment  that  can  be  named.  Great  as  is  the  Hawaiian 
love  of  waiwaij  (property,)  and  degraded  and  bad  as 
they  still  are  in  many  ways,  yet<  such  is  now  the  force 

3  * 


50  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

of  law  and  the  effect  of  the  Gospel,  that  we  might  al 
most  say  a  man  may  travel  afoot  and  by  canoe,  through 
the  entire  cluster  of  Islands,  from  Hawaii  to  Niihau, 
and- with  a  net  bag  of  shining  dollars,  without  fear  of 
molestation,  unless  it  be  from  some  desperate  runaway 
foreigner,  or  a  straggling  Hawaiian  sailor,  hardened  by 
his  cruises  abroad.  If  the  same  be  true  of  any  other 
land,  we  have  yet  to  know  it.  To  the  Gospel,  that  has 
wrought  the  change,  be  all  the  glory. 

Christianity  as  the  Cause,  Commerce  and  Civilization 
as  the  consequents  and  handmaids,  have  done  it  all. 
Without  the  missionary,  carry  to  them  all  you  could  of 
modern  art  and  culture,  Hawaiians  to  this  day  would 
have  lived  and  died  in  as  besotted  and  gross  barbarism 
as  in  the  days  of  Cook. '  God  would  not  be  in  all  their 
thoughts ;  and  where  God  is  not  honored,  civilization 
can  neither  be  established,  nor  can  it  hold  its  own.  It 
was  because  the  glorious  Gospel  of  the  Son  of  God  went 
first  to  this  Island  Heart  of  the  Pacific  in  the  year 
1820,  that  facts  like  the  following  turn  up  in  the  year 
1850. 

"When  the  Sandwich  Islands  Mission  was  first  start 
ed,  a  young  wheelwright  in  Massachusetts  was  called 
upon  to  contribute  for  it,  and  was  told  that  his  quota 
would  be  a  dollar.  He  paid  it,  but  with  the  feeling 
then  that  the  dollar  was  thrown  away.  Within  the 
present  year  this  same  wheelwright  has  received  an 
order  from  those  Islands  for  twenty  pairs  of  cart-wheels 
and  bodies,  at  ninety  dollars  a  pair. 

Now  we  say  with  confidence,  that  without  the  Chris* 


COMMERCIAL    VALUE    OF   CHRISTIANITY.  51 

tianity  there*  which  this  wheelwright's^?^  dollar  help 
ed  to  establish,  Commerce,  with  all  its  boasted  facilities, 
could  never  have  returned  him  the  eighteen  hundred. 
And  the  fact  shows  that,  if  men  wish  to  invest  their  money 
where  it  will  yield  a  dividend  of  eighteen  hundred  per 
cent.,  they  had  better  put  it  into  the  treasury  of  Mis 
sions. 

The  religion  of  the  Gospel  is  the  only  lever  that  can 
pry  up  the  nations,  and  put  them  in  the  way  of  im 
provement  by  commerce  and  civilization.*  Christianity 
is  itself  the  most  perfect  civilizer  hitherto  discovered. 
John  Williams  very  truly  remarks,  that,  until  the  peo- 

*  The  money-value  of  Christianity  at  the  Sandwich  Islands  is  further 
shown  in  these  two  facts.  A  plantation  on  the  Island  of  Maui,  which  a  < 
few  years  ago  cost  less  than  $5000,  has  recently  (in  1851)  been  sold  for 
$30,000  ;  and  a  small  store-lot  at  Honolulu,  purchased  of  a  chief  about 
the  time  of  the  arrival  of  the  missionaries  for  a  mere  trifle,  has  lately 
sold  for  $10,000.  + 

The  gross  domestic  exports  from  the  Islands  in  1849  were  valued  at 
$103,743.74.  In  1850,  $380,323.63.  Increase  more  than  three-fold. 
Gross  value  'of  imports  in  1849,  $729,730.44.  In  1850,  $1,053,053.70. 
Increase  nearly  two-fold.  Number  of  vessels  that  visited  the  Islands  in 
1849  : — Merchant  vessels,  180  ;  whalers,  274  ;  vessels  of  war,  13  :  total, 
467.  In  1850: — Merchant  vessels,  469 ;  whalers,  237;  vessels  of  war, 
14:  total,  720.  Value  of  supplies  furnished  these  vessels  in  1849, 
$81,340.00.  In  1850,  $140,000.00.  Both  the  number  of  vessels  and 
value  of  supplies  nearly  doubled  in  a  year.  The  gross  value  of  the  sup 
plies  and  exports  for  1850  was  $536,522.63.  The  exports  of  sugar  in 
creased  from  653,820  Ibs.  in  1849,  to  750,238  in  1850  ;  of  coffee,  from 
28,231  Ibs.  in  1849,  to  208,428  in  1850 ;  of  Irish  potatoes,  fro  n  858  bbls. 
in  1849,  to  51,957  in  1850 ;  of  sweet  potatoes,  from  306  bbls.  in  1849,  to 
9,631  in  1850. 

The  number  of  framed  houses  erected.in  Honolulu  and  vicinity  during 
the  year  1850  was  three  hundred  and  fifty. 


52  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

pie  are  brought  under  the  influence  of  religion,  they 
have  no  desire  for  the  arts  and  usages  of  civilized  life ; 
but  that  invariably  creates  it.  While  nations  are  under 
the  power  of  their  superstitions,  they  evince  an  inanity 
and  torpor,  from  which  no  stimulus  has  proved  power 
ful  enough  to  arouse  them,  but  the  new  ideas  and  new 
principles  imparted  by  Christianity. 

Was  it  that  the  savage  Sandwich  Islanders,  in  the 
days  of  Cook,  did  not  discover  God  by  the  light  of  na 
ture  ?  Were  *not  the  invisible  things  of  him  from  the 
creation  of  the  world  clearly  seen,  being  understood  by 
the  things  that  are  made,  even  his  eternal  power  and 
Godhead  ? 

Knew  they  not  God  ? — They  might  have  seen 

His  beauty  in  the  glorious  green 

Of  these  fair  Isles,  and  heard  his  voice 

In  Nature's  song,  that  bade  Rejoice  ! 

And  witnessed  in  the  soil  they  trod, 

Heaved  up  in  coral  wonder — God ! 

And  marked  HIS  footsteps,  bathed  in  wrath, 

On  the  volcano's  fiery  path. 

But  all  in  vain  ;— though  every  hill 

Its  Maker  knew  ;  each  conscious  rill, 

Leaping  and  sparkling,  told  of  HIM  ; 

Morn's  blush,  and  Evening's  twilight  dim,     , 

Proclaimed  their  God;  though  valleys  rang, 

And  the  blue-waved  Pacific  sang  ; 

And  mountain,  mead,  and  rock  replied. 

"  God!  God!" — they  heard  not,  raved,  and  died ! — 

God  was  not  in  all  their  thoughts  until  enthroned  there 
"by  Christianity,  brought  in  God's  own  providential 
time,  and  inaugurated  in  his  own  way  in  the  Heart  of 
the  Pacific,  so  as  best  to  answer  the  part  to  be  fulfilled 


LINKS   IN   THE   CHAIN    OF   PROVIDENCE.  53 

by  these  Islands  in  the  conquest  of  the  entire  Island 
World  of  the  Pacific,  and  of  the  great  continents  that 
lie  upon  it,  for  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

It  is  remarkable  to  notice  how,  in  the  providence  of 
God,  death  to  the  first  discoverer  of  the  Sandwich  Isl 
ands,  and  spiritual  life  to  their  depraved  aborigines, 
should  both  issue  instrumentally  from  the  bosom  of  this 
Bay  of  Kealakekua.  This  was  the  birth-place  of  Opu- 
kahaia,  or  Obookiah,  and  it  was  his  embarkation  at  this 
port,  accidental  as  it  seemed,  in  1809,  on  board  an 
American  trader,  that  forged  the  important  link  in  the 
chain  of  events  which  was  finally  completed  in  1819, 
just  ten  years  after,  in  the  embarkation  of  the  mis 
sionary  band  from  Boston  for  Hawaii  in  the  brig  Thad- 
deus. 

On  board  the  American  trader  there  was  a  pious 
student  of  Yale  College,  who  took  much  pains  on  the 
voyage  to  America  to  instruct  the  tawny  Hawaiian 
sailor  in  the  rudiments  of  knowledge.  Along  with  his 
companion,  Thomas  Hopu,  he  was  taken,  on  their  arri 
val,  to  New  Haven,  where  the  spark  of  missionary  zeal 
may  be  said  to  have  been  first  struck  out,  in  the  suc 
cessful  efforts  of  some  of  the  students  there,  to  initiate 
these  youth  into  the  elements  of  learning  and  Chris 
tianity.  "  The  friends  of  Christ  in  JSTew  England  were 
led  to  look  upon  these  sons  of  Paganism,  thus  provi 
dentially  brought  to  their  doors,  as  having  a  claim  for 
sympathy,  care,  and  instruction  in  the  Christian  doc 
trine;  and,  in  attempting  to  meet  this  claim,  they  cher 
ished  the  reasonable  hope  that  suitable  efforts  to  enlight- 


54:  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

en  and  convert  them  would  tend  to  the  evangelization 
of  their  idolatrous  nation."* 

Aiming  to  secure  the  salvation  of  these  strangers, 
and  to  make  their  agency  available  in  disseminating 
the  Gospel  through  heathen  countries,  the  American 
Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions  establish 
ed,  in  the  year  1816,  a  trial  school  at  Cornwall,  Con 
necticut,  for  whatsoever  sons  of  unevangelized  barba 
rians  they  could  gather  together.  Hereby  was  fanned 
the  nascent  flame  of  the  Island  Mission,  which  in  due 
time  was  to  irradiate  the  Heart  of  the  Pacific  with  so 
wide  a  blaze. 

Let  us  pause  and  mark  here  the  hand  of  God.  "The 
time  of  blessed  visitation,"  says  Hollis  Head,  "  had 
come  for  the  isles  of  the  sea.  The  English  churches 
had  already  taken  of  the  spoil  of  their  idols,  and  were 
rejoicing  and  being  enriched  by  their  conquests.  The 
American  Zion  must  participate  in  the  honor  and  profit 
of  the  war.  Hence  Henry  Obookiah,  an  obscure  boy, 
without  father  or  mother,  kindred  or  tie,  to  bind  him  to 
his  native  land,  must  be  brought  to  our  shores  ;  be  re 
moved  from  place  to  place,  from  institution  to  institu 
tion,  everywhere  fanning  into  a  flame  the  smoking  flax 
of  a.  missionary  spirit,  and  giving  it  some  definite  direc 
tion  ;  be  made  the  occasion  of  rousing  the  slumbering 
energies  of  the  Church  on  behalf  of  the  heathen,  and 
of  kindling  a  spirit  of  prayer  and  benevolence  in  the 
hearts  of  God's  people ;  and  finally,  and  principally, 

*  Bingham's  History  of  the  Sandwich  Islands,  p.  57. 


SKETCHES    OF   THOMAS    HOPTJ.  55 

his  short  and  interesting  career,  and  perhaps,  more  than 
all,  his  widely  lamented  death,  must  originate  and  ma 
ture  a  scheme  of  missions  to  those  Islands,  the  present 
aspect  of  which  presents  scenes  of  interest  scarcely  in 
ferior  to  those  of  the  apostolic  age."* 

The  companion  of  Opukahaia,  Thomas  IIopu,  I  met 
at  Kailua.  He  was  then  fifty-two  years  of  age,  and 
was  the  sixth  man  living  of  those  that  came  from 
Cornwall,  all  but  one  of  whom  were  then  said  to  be  in 
good  standing  in  the  church,  although  they  had  all 
been  wayw&rd  and  unstable. 

He  gave  me  a  graphic  account  of  sundry  early  ad 
ventures  of  his  when  a  sailor,  before  he  went  to  Corn 
wall  :  how  he  was  the  means  of  saving  all  on  board 
the  schooner  he  was  in,  when  it  was  overset  at  sea,  and 
the  masts  sprang  out  as  she  capsized.  He  dove  under 
and  bit  off  a  rope  that  held  the  boat ;  then  got  it  to 
the  floating  masts,  and,  freed  of  water,  helped  the  crew 
into  it,  and  rigged  a  sail  out  of  the  captain's  shirt, 
through  which,  by  a  propitious  Providence,  they  reach 
ed,  just  alive,  one  of  the  West  Indies.  Though  a  wick 
ed  sailor,  he  said  he  often  prayed  then  to  God  in  the 
Lord's  Prayer,  which  he  had  learned  while  first  going 
to  America  with  Henry  Opukahaia. 

From  the  "West  Indies  he  shipped  again  to  the  United 
States  ;  but  it  being  the  time  of  the  last  war  with  Eng 
land,  the  brig  was  captured  by  a  British  cruiser  not  far 
from  Newport,  and  carried  into  Tarpaulin  Cove. 

*  Hand  of  God  in  History,  by  Hollis'Read.     Hartford,  1849.     P.  ]  38. 


56  LIFE    IN   THE   SANDWICH    ISLANDS. 

There,  according  to  his  story,  he  prevailed  upon  his 
shipmates  to  seize  a  Yankee  sloop  the  British  had 
brought  in  there.  They  succeeded  in  the  enterprise, 
and  returned  with  the  sloop  to  the  very  port  where  it 
was  owned. 

Reclaimed  from  the  sea,  and  adopted  by  the  benevo 
lent,  Hopu  now  lived  for  three  years  at  Cornwall, 
where,  although  he  never  enlisted  the  sympathy  and 
interest  that  were  attracted  to  Obookiah,  he  was  fitted 
for  an  important  part,  at  first,  as  interpreter  to  the  early 
missionaries,  and  a  teacher  in  the  schools.  * 

While  at  the  Cornwall  Mfssion  School,  it  is  related 
of  him  that  he  took  a  journey  into  the  country  with  a 
friend,  and  spent  an  evening  with  a  company  who  were 
much  entertained  by  the  questions  proposed  to  him  by 
an  irreligious  lawyer,  and  his  amusing  answers.  At 
length  Thomas  said,  in  substance,  "  I  am  a  poor  hea 
then  boy.  It  is  not  strange  that  my  blunders  in  Eng 
lish  should  amuse  you.  But  soon  there  will  be  a  larger 
meeting  than  this.  We  shall  all  be  there.  They  will 
ask  us  all  one  question,  namely,  'Do  you  love  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  ?'  ISTow,  sir,  I  think  I  can  say,  Yes. 
"What  will  you  say,  sir  ?" 

He  ceased,  and  an  oppressive  stillness  pervaded  the 
room.  At  length  it  was  broken  by  a  proposition  of  the 
lawyer,  that,  as  the  evening  was  far  spent,  they  should 
have  a  season  of  devotion,  in  which  Thomas  should 
lead.  It  was  acceded  to ;  and  Thomas,  in  his  accus 
tomed  meek  and  affectionate  manner,  addressed  the 
throne  of  grace.  Soon  he  prayed  for  the  lawyer  in 


THE   LAWYER   AND   SANDWICH   ISLANDEK.  57 

person,  alluding  to  his  learning  and  talent,  and  be 
sought  that  he  might  not  be  ignorant  of  the  way  of 
salvation  through  Christ. 

As  he  proceeded  thus,  the  emotion  of  the  lawyer  rose 
above  restraint.  He  sobbed  aloud.  The  whole  com 
pany  were  affected,  and  sobs  drowned  the  'speaker's 
voice.  When  they  separated  for  the  night,  and  retired 
to  their  respective  rooms,  there  was  no  rest  to  the  law 
yer,  for  the  question  of  Thomas  still  rung  in  his  ears, 
"  What  will  you  say,  sir  f"  Nor  did  its  echo  cease  till 
the  Spirit  of  God  renewed  his  heart,  and  he  truly  found 
the  Saviour. 

This  same  Thomas  Hopu  is  now  bronzed  and  wrin 
kled  beyond  his  years,  and  his  lamp  of  life  must  soon 
go  out.  Though  his  conduct  as  a  Christian  since  his 
return  is  said  to  have  been  by  no  means  always  exem 
plary,  nor  his  influence  upon  his  countrymen  what  was 
to  have  been  looked  for  from  his  advantages,  we  must 
lean  to  the  side  of  charity  in  our  judgments  both  of  him 
and  his  fellows. 

Mr.  Dibble  very  properly  says,  that  too  much  had 
been  expected  of  them.  They  were  found  exceedingly 
ignorant,  and  of  course,  therefore,  were  miserable  inter 
preters,  and  very  poor  teachers.  They  were  often  found 
teaching  doctrines  and  precepts  altogether  opposed  to 
the  precepts  of  the  Bible,  and  to  the  spirit  of  the  Gos 
pel.  Those  of  the  Cornwall  youth  especially,  that  came 
with  the  first  reinforcement,  were  deemed  a  hindrance 
rather  than  a  help.  "  To  have  visited  a  foreign  land, 
to  be  better  clad  "than  their  fellow-countrymen,  to  re- 

3* 


58  LIFE    IN   THE   SANDWICH    ISLANDS. 

ceive  some  attention  from  chiefs  and  foreigners,  were 
distinctions  which  their  weak  brains  and  undisciplined 
minds  could  not  endure."* 

These  youth  having  so  far  failed  as  interpreters,  the 
missionaries  were  thrown  upon  their  own  skill  and  ap 
plication  for  getting  a  mastery  of  the  Hawaiian  tongue. 
To  this  great  work,  therefore,  of  learning  and  reducing 
to  writing  a  language  barbarous  and  unknown,  they  ac 
cordingly  devoted  themselves  with  a  patient,  yea,  heroic 
assiduity.  The  marvellous  result  of  their  labors  the 
universal  world  of  humanity  now  knows  and  feels. 
How  vast  the  difference  between  the  Hawaii  which 
they  found  in  1820,  and  the  Hawaii  which,  under  God, 
they  have  made  in  1850  ! 

In  the  marvellous  change  thus  effected  at  this  long- 
lost  Atlantis  of  the  Pacific,  we  catch  a  glimpse  of  what 
may  be  realized  the  world  over,  when  that  prophe 
cy  of  Holy  "Writ  shall  be  fulfilled  which  says  that 
TlIE  EARTH  SHALL  BE  FILLED  WITH  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF 
THE  GLORY  OF  THE  LORD  AS  THE  WATERS  COVER  THE 
SEA.  THEY  SHALL  NOT  HURT  NOR  DESTROY  IN  ALL  MY 
HOLY  MOUNTAIN. 


*  Dibble's   History  of  the   Sandwich  Islands,  p.   173.     Lahainahma 
Mission  Press,  1843. 


HOSPITABLE   POET    OF   LAHAINA.  59 


CHAPTER    III. 

LAHAINA    AND   ITS    ENVIRONS    ON    THE    ISLAND    OF    MAUI. 

HAPPY,  oh  !  happy  he,  who  not  affecting 
The  endless  toils  attending  worldly  cares, 
With  mind  reposed,  all  discontent  rejecting, 
In  steady  pace  his  way  to  heaven  prepares  ; 
Deeming  his  life  a  scene,  the  world  a  stage, 
Whereon  he  acts  his  useful  pilgrimage. 

ANON. 

Good-bye  to  Hawaii — Grateful  reminiscences — The  continental  character  of  mission 
aries — Portraiture  of  a  good  priest — Run  to  Maui  by  whale-ship — Facilities  for  re 
cruiting  at  Lahaina— Seamen's  chaplain— Gratuitous  services  of  missionaries— Sailors 
always  careless  when  not  cared  for— Winding  up  of  a  liberty-day  at  Lahaina,  in  the 
season  of  ships — An  honorable  pre-eminence — Hawaiians  a  surf-playing — Sea-bathing 
a  national  passion — Array  of  arguments  for  the  people  supporting  their  own  minis 
ters—Peculiar  advantages  at  Lahaina— The  Hawaiian  democracy— Remarkable  run 
ning  out  of  the  race  of  rulers — Precious  dust  in  God's  acre — Character  and  influence 
of  the  high  chief  Hoapili — A  striking  anecdote — Vistas  of  prophecy  opened — Ten 
dency  of  things — Cheering  progress. 

TURN"  we  now,  in  prosecuting  this  survey  of  the  moral 
Heart  of  the  Pacific,  to  another  portion  of  the  Hawaiian 
group.  We  pay  a  reluctant  farewell  to  the  hospitable 
Island  of  Hawaii,  in  whose  missionary  families,  churches, 
and  schools,  as  portrayed  in  "  The  Island  World  of  the 
Pacific,"  I  find  myself  to  have  become  more  deeply  in 
terested  than  I  could  have  believed.  The  friendships 
of  studious  years  have  been  renewed.  New  ones,  that 
will  be  ever  cherished  and  fragrant,  have  been  formed. 
The  good  fruits  of  the  Gospel,  and  the  benign  results  of 
faithful  missionary  labor,  have  been  observed ;  and  a 


00  LIFE    IN    THE   SANDWICH  ISLANDS. 

debt  incurred  of  that  kind  which,  while  it  cannot  be 
cancelled  from  the  mint,  a  debtor  loves  to  be  paying, 
and  a  creditor  to  be  receiving  from  the  mental  mine  of 
genuine  affection,  good  wishes,  and  prayers. 

It  is  that  kind  of  obligation  which  a  truly  hospitable 
and  good  man  likes  to  have  others  under  to  himself, 
and  it  is  the  only  debt  which  does  not  worry,  and  which 
he  is  willing  to  be  burdened  with  himself,  as  answering 
the  apostolic  injunction,  To  owe  no  man  any  thing,  T)ut 
to  love  one  another.  It  is  a  commodity  which  it  were 
happy  indeed  if  all  Christians  lived  so  much  within 
their  means,  and  with  such  true  Christian  simplicity 
and  prudence,  as  to  be  able  to  pay  all  their  debts  in. 
The  pressure  of  the  times  would  be  little  felt  if  a  plenty 
of  that  wrere  in  circulation,  and  if  discounts  were  often er 
made  between  man  and  man  in  that  genuine  currency. 
Its  quality,  like  that  of  mercy,  is  not  strained, 

Both  blessing  him  that  gives  and  him  that  takes. 

It  is  of  the  kind  words,  attentions,  hospitality,  and 
help  which  love  dictates  -between  friend  and  friend, 
and  from  his  host  to  the  traveller,  and  which  humanity 
calls  for  from  the  rich  and  prospered  in  society  to  the 
unfortunate  and  needy,  that  our  American  poet  Dana 
says, 

They  make  not  poor  : 
They'll  come  again  full-laden  to  your  door. 

Lord  Bacon,  too,  has  beautifully  said,  If  a  man  be  gra 
cious  to  strangers,  it  shows  that  he  is  a  citizen  of  the 
world,  and  that  his  heart  is  no  island  cut  off  from  other 


A   TRIBUTE   TO   AMERICAN    MISSIONARIES.  61 

lands,  but  a  continent  tliat  joins  them.  The  friends 
with  whom  I  have  been  sojourning,  are  eminently  conti 
nental  in  their  make  and  their  manners.  With  the  great 
Continent  of  Humanity,  and  every  member  of  it,  they 
are  closely  allied,  and  nothing  human  is  foreign  to  them. 
Though  their  range  be  but  an  island,  their  sympathies 
embrace  the  world ;  and  the  sweep  of  their  prayers 
and  their  charities  is  as  wide  as  that  of  the  glorious 
ocean  that  laves  their  shores. 

A  man  that  lives  to  do  good,  (the  only  life  worth 
living,)  may  think  himself  well  off  to  have  his  lot  cast 
among  the  missionary  band  of  Hawaii.  Assured  of  a 
steady  living,  and  delivered  from  so  much  that  is  arti 
ficial  and  hollow  in  society,  they  have  only  to  devote 
themselves  to  their  families  and  to  their  proper  mis 
sionary  wrork.  Theirs  is  not  the  bread  of  idleness.  And 
if  they  labor  hard,  and  have  some  discouragements  and 
trials,  not  easily  appreciated  by  men  that  live  in  Amer 
ica,  they  have  the  solace,  too,  that  their  toil  is  not  un 
blessed,  and  that  the  sympathy  and  prayers  of  many 
are  with  them.  Some  of  them  realize  to  a  rare  degree 
Bishop  Ken's  portraiture  of  "A  Good  Priest :" 

Give  me  the  Priest  these  graces  shall  possess : — 

Of  an  ambassador  the  just  address ; 

A  father's  tenderness,  a  shepherd's  care, 

A  leader's  courage,  which  the  cross  can  bear  ; 

A  ruler's  awe,  a  watchman's  wakeful  eye, 

A  pilot's  skill,  the  helm  in  storms  to  ply ; 

A  fisher's  patience,  and  a  laborer's  toil, 

A  guide's  dexterity  to  disembroil ; 

A  prophet's  inspiration  from  above, 

A  teacher's  knowledge,  and  a  Saviour's  love. 


62  LIFE    IN   THE    SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

They  are  a  united  and  affectionate  body,  that  have  em 
inently  the  confidence  and  love  one  of  another,  and 
they  have  the  confidence  and  love  of  the  Hawaiians  to 
the  utmost.  May  it  be  so  always,  and  may  every 
fresh  accession  to  their  forces  be  an  accession  of  execu 
tive  and  moral  strength  !  May  peace  be  on  them  and 
mercy,  and  upon  the  Israel  of  God  of  which  they  have 
the  charge!  Peace  be  within  her  walls.  May  tliey 
prosper  that  love  thee.  for  my  brethren  and  compan 
ions'  sake  I  will  now  say,  Peace  be  within  you. 

The  disability  of  bodily  indisposition  prevented  my 
making  the  tour  of  Hilo  and  Puna  with  the  pastor, 
Rev.  Mr.  Coan,  and  afterwards  going  across  Manna  Kea 
to  Waimea,  the  station  occupied  by  Rev.  Lorenzo 
Lyons.  I  wished,  also,  to  be  near  at  hand  to  this  port 
in  the  shipping  season,  in  order  to  take  advantage  of  any 
good  opportunity  that  might  occur  for  America.  Taking 
passage,  therefore,  in  a  whale-ship  that  touched  at  Hilo 
for  supplies,  I  am  here,  after  an  easy  run  of  two  days. 

The  roadstead  of  Lahaina,  as  usual  in  spring  and 
fall,  is  anchored  in  all  over  by  large  whale-ships,  that 
have  come  in  from  the  different  cruising-grounds  of  the 
Pacific  to  recruit,  where  supplies  of  all  kinds  can  be 
obtained  on  more  advantageous  terms,  and  with  less 
detriment  to  the  men,  than  at  any  other  place  in  this 
ocean.  It  has  been  visited  the  last  two  seasons,  fall 
and  spring,  by  about  four  hundred  ships,  that  spend  on 
an  average,  at  a  very  moderate  estimate,  three  hundred 
dollars  each,  making  the  sum-total  of  $120,000  yearly 
disbursements  at  this  port.  The  estimated  value  of  the 


STATISTICS   OF   LAHAINA   WHALE-SHIPS.  63 

whale-ships  and  cargoes  entered  at  Lahaina  and  Hono 
lulu,  between  1844  and  1845,  was  $17,733,411 ;  of  dis 
bursements  there,  $150,000. 

The  supplies  furnished  by  the  natives  are  goats,  hogs, 
poultry,  fruit,  and  vegetables,  especially  Irish  potatoes, 
for  which  they  get  money  and  cloth,  or  other  articles 
of  exchange.  Fresh  beef,  also,  is  supplied  by  foreign 
ers.  Other  supplies,  as  of  salt  provisions,  bread,  cord 
age,  and  ship-chandlery  in  general,  are  furnished  almost 
exclusively  by^  one  American  house,  that  take  bills 
drawn  upon  ship-owners  in  America  and  Europe,  at  a 
rate  of  twenty  per  cent,  for  exchange. 

The  concurrence  here  of  «such  large  whaling  fleets 
makes  Lahaina  a  most  desirable  place  of  labor  for  a 
seamen's  chaplain.  Estimating  twenty-five  seamen 
only  to  a  ship,  the  port  will  be  visited  by  ten  thousand 
annually :  not,  indeed,  ten  thousand  different  seamen, 
but  that  number  in  two  different  times. 

From  the  first  year,  1823,  in  which  this  was  made  a 
missionary  station,  to  the  present  time,  more  or  less  of 
a  chaplain's  work  has  been  done  for  them  by  the  resi 
dent  missionaries.  Until  he  left,  in  1825,  it  was  Mr. 
Stewart's  special  department ;  in  whose  time  were  per 
petrated  the  atrocious  outrages  upon  government  and 
the  mission  by  disappointed  sailors  and  their  infamous 
captains. 

Rev.  Mr.  Spalding,  the  lamented  associate  of  Mr. 
Eichards,  labored  some  years  after  among  them  with 
great  acceptableness.  On  his  failure,  the  work  fell 
upon  Mr.  Baldwin,  who  had  at  the  same  time  the 


LIFE   IN    THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 


pastoral  care  of  the  church  in  the  absence  of  Mr.  Rich 
ards,  and  the  medical  department  for  Maui.  A  build 
ing  has  been  erected,  and  an  upper  room  finished  for  a 
chapel,  by  the  contributions  of  shipmasters  and  for 
eigners  at  Lahaina. 

During  one  year,  the  Rev.  Lorrin  Andrews,  for  some 
years  a  missionary  of  the  American  Board,  now  in  the 
employ  of  government,  was  engaged  by  the  residents 
here  to  supply  the  desk.  Two  hundred  and  forty  dol 
lars  were  contributed  by  shipmasters  and  residents  for 
his  support.  He  labored,  however,  only  on  the  Sab 
bath,  and  preached  once  the  same  day  in  a  school-house 
to  a  little  congregation  o£  natives,  in  a  remote  part  of 
Lahaina. 

A  man  was  needed  to  labor  daily  among  the  resi 
dents  and  seamen,  who  might  come  into  personal 
rencontre,  and  employ  what  Dr.  Beecher  used  to  call 
the  short-sword  and  dagger  of  personal  conversation 
and  Tract-giving.  Through  the  providence  of  the 
American  Seamen's  Friend  Society,  such  a  laborer  is 
now  supplied  in  the  person  of  Rev.  Mr.  Taylor,  who 
has  been  stationed  here  since  the  year  1848  as  the 
local  seamen's  chaplain.  It  will  be  in  his  power, 
through  God's  blessing,  to  preclude  much  sin  and  suf 
fering  on  the  part  of  those  otherwise  unfriended  sea 
men,  who,  having  no  man  to  care  for  their  souls,  are 
likely  to  care  little  for  themselves,  except  how  they 
may  secure  the  pleasures  of  sin  for  a  season. 

It  was  painful  to  go  out  among  them  here  about  sun 
down,  when  their  liberty  expires,  and,  drunk  or  sober, 


HUMILIATING   SCENES    AT   LAHAINA. 


they  must  be  off  to  their  ships,  or  into  the  fort.  Liquor 
and  lust  had  by  that  time  done  their  best  to  inflame 
many  of  them,  and  your  ears  would  be  shocked  by 
ribald  oaths,  and  the  language  of  lewdness,  caught  up 
and  repeated  by  native  boys  ;  and  you  would  see  some 
reeling  to  and  fro  at  their  wit's  end,  and  hustled  along 
by  some  less  drunken  comrade;  and  others  without 
shame,  caressed  and  hung  upon  by  native  girls,  who 
flock  here  in  the  ship  season,  from  other  parts,  to  get 
the  ready  wages  of  sin.  The  populace  of  both  sexes 
were  out  to  see  what  was  a-going,  and  to  catch  the  con 
tagion  and  cant  of  vice.  It  was  a  scene  of  vileness, 
disgust,  and  abomination,  which  no  virtuous  man,  if 
possible,  would  see  but  once. 

You  seemed  to  beliol'd  busy  devils  scouting  about 
one  of  the -breathing-holes  of  hell,  running  into  the 
drunken  herd,  and  chuckling  with  Satanic  glee  over 
the  human  victims  which  they  were  making  ten-fold 
more  the  children  of  hell  than  themselves.  It  was  a 
sight  to  make  a  missionary  weep,  and  any  foreigner  in 
whom  virtue  and  shame  have  not  become  extinct. 

To  blush, 
And  hang  his  head  to  think  himself  a  man  ; 

a  countryman,  perhaps,  .  of  those  who  were  making 
themselves  and  the  recent  heathen  so  vile. 

It  ought  to  be  added  to  this  picture  now,  that,  just 
after  my  visit  at  Lahaina,  the  sale  of  ardent  spirits 
was  prevented,  and  a  great  deal  of  mischief  and  vice 


66  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

stopped.  The  only  license  for  its  sale  (which  govern 
ment  deemed  itself  under  the  humiliating  obligation  to 
grant  in  consideration  of  the  forced  French  treaty)  was 
bid  off  at  auction  to  a  temperance  man,  with  the  tacit 
understanding  that  he  should  not  be  a  loser,  for  the  sum 
of  $1500.  In  a  riot  just  before,  and  a  fight  of  the  sea 
men  with  the  native  constables,  the  rioters  for  a  time 
held  the  town,  and  it  was  found  absolutely  necessary 
for  the  safety  of  life  and  limb,  and  to  preclude  similar 
or  worse  scenes  of  riot  and  noise,  that  the  one  great 
mischief-breeder  should  be  bound  and  rendered  impo 
tent.  This  port  and  Hilo  are  now  probably  the  only 
two  places  in  all  the  Pacific  Ocean  frequented  by 
ships,  where  a  sailor  cannot  get  drunk.  May  the  hon 
orable  difference  never  be  lost  through  any  fault  of 
theirs  ! 

It  is  highly  amusing  to  a  stranger  to  go  out  into  the 
south  part  of  this  town,  some  day  when  the  sea  is  roll 
ing  in  heavily  over  the  reef,  and  to  observe  there  the  ev 
olutions  and  rapid  career  of  a  company  of  surf-players. 
The  sport  is  so  attractive  and  full  of  wild  excitement 
to  Hawaiians,  and  withal  so  healthful,  that  I  cannot 
but  hope  it  will  be  many  years  before  civilization  shall 
look  it  out  of  countenance,  or  make  it  disreputable  to 
indulge  in  this  manly,  though  it  be  dangerous,  exer 
cise. 

Many  a  man  from  abroad  who  has  witnessed  this 
exhilarating  play,  has  no  doubt  inly  wished  that  he 
were  free  and  able  to  share  in  it  himself.  For  my 


DIVERSIONS    WITH    THE    SURF-BOARD.  67 

part,  I  should  like  nothing  better,  if  I  could  do  it,  than 
to  get  balanced  on  a  board  just  before  a  great  rushing 
wave,  and  so  be  hurried  in  half  or  quarter  of  a  mile 
landward  with  the  speed  of  a  race-horse,  all  the  time 
enveloped  in  foam  and  spray,  but  without  letting  the 
roller  break  and  tumble  over  my  head. 

In  this  consists  the  strength  of  muscle  and  sleight-of- 
hand,  to  keep  the  head  and  shoulders  just  ahead  and 
clear  of  the  great  crested  wall  that  is  every  moment 
impending  over  one,  and  threatening  to  bur^  the  bold 
surf-rider  in  its  watery  ruin.  The  natives  do  this  writh 
admirable  intrepidity  and  skill,  riding  in,  as  it  were, 
upon  the  neck  and  mane  of  their  furious  charger ; 
and  when  you  look  to  see  them,  their  swift  race 
run,  dashed  upon  the  rocks  or  sand,  behold,  they 
have  slipped  under  the  belly  of  the  wave  they  rode, 
and  are  away  outside,  waiting  for  a  cruise  upon  an 
other. 

Both  men  and  women,  girls  and  boys,  have  their 
times  for  this  diversion.  Even  the  huge  Premier 
(Auhea)  has  been  known  to  commit  her  bulky  person 
to  a  surf-board ;  and  the  chiefs  generally,  when  they 
visit  Lahaina,  take  a  turn  or  two  at  this  invigorating 
sport  witB.  billows  and  board.  For  a  more  accurate 
idea  of  it  than  can  be-  conveyed  by  any  description, 
the  reader  is  referred  to  the  engraving. 

I  have  no  doubt  it  would  run  away  with  dyspepsia 
from  many  a  bather  at  Rockaway  or  Easthampton,  if 
they  would  learn,  and  dare  to  use  a  surf-board  on  those 
great  Atlantic  rollers,  as  the  Hawaii ans  do  on  the 


68     ..  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

waves  of  the  Pacific.  But  there  is  wanting  on  the 
Atlantic  sea-board  that  delicious,  bland  temperature 
of  the  water,  which  within  the  tropics,  while  it 
makes  sea-bathing  equally  a  tonic,  renders  it  always 
safe. 

The  missionaries  at  these  Islands,  and  foreigners 
generally,  are  greatly  at  fault  in  that  they  do  not  avail 
themselves  more  of  this  easy  and  unequalled  means  of 
retaining  health,  or  of  restoring  it  when  enfeebled. 
Bathing  ill  fresh  water,  in  a  close  bath-house,  is  not  to 
be  compared  to  it  as  an  invigorating  and  remedial 
agent ;  and  it  is  unwise,  not  to  say  criminal,  in  such  a 
climate,  to  neglect  so  natural  a  way  of  preserving 
health,  as  washing  and  swimming  in  the  sea.  In  those 
who  live  close  to  the  water,  and  on  the  leeward  side 
of  the  Islands,  it  is  the  more  inexcusable,  for  it  could 
be  enjoyed  without  exposure  in  the  dewless  evenings  ; 
or  in  some  places,  a.  small  house  might  be  built  on 
stone  abutments  over  the  water,  and  facilities  so  con 
trived  that  both  sexes  could  enjoy  this  great  luxury  of 
a  life  within  the  tropics. 

But  we  come  back  to  Lahaina,  to  speak  of  a  charm 
ing  grove  of  young  cocoanut-trees  in  the  northwestern 
part  of  the  town,  planted  by  the  excellent  chief  Hoa- 
pili,  or  Hoapiliwahine.  They  are  not  the  tall,  lank, 
ghostly-looking  things  which  the  full-grown  tree  is,  that 
becomes  at  these  Islands,  from  the  places  in  which  you 
most  often  see  it,  a  synonym  of  desolation  and  sterility, 
but  a  luxuriant,  youthful  growth,  more  beautiful  than 


^d 

CO 


INDIGNITIES    OFFERED   TO   TREES.  69 

any  thing  in  the  form  of  woods  that  I  have  seen  since 
leaving  America. 

Six  or  seven  years  ago  there  was  a  fine  grove  of  large 
green  Kou-trees  in  the  opposite  part  of  the  tow^n,  near 
where  the  King  lives,  covering  an  acre  and  a  half  or 
two  acres,  and  so  ancient  and  shady  as  to  afford  ample 
covering  for  all  the  canoes  in  Lahaina,  and  all  the  peo 
ple  too.  But  before  any  one  knew  it,  and  not  until  it 
w^as  too  late  to  remonstrate  against  such  a  piece  of  sav- 
ageism,  the  King  took  a  freak  to  have  them  all  cut 
down  to  make  into  bowls,  and  spittoons,  and  pounding- 
boards  for  halo.  Could  the  outraged  trees  have  wept 
like  the  sacred  grove  in  the  ^Enead,  they  would  have 
dropped  tears  of  blood  at  the  indignity. 

So,- on  the  island  of  Molokai,  there  was  a  fine  forest 
of  Kamani-trees,  the  only  ones  at  the  Islands.  It  is  a 
tree  of  slow  growth,  and  of  great  value  for  its  beauti 
ful  wood.  But  the  chiefs  a  few  years  ago  had  them  all 
mercilessly  cut  down,  without  any  care  to  propagate 
young  ones,  happening  to  want  the  timber  to  repair 
some  vessels.  It  was  a  fair  specimen  of  ordinary  bar 
barism  :  how  unlike  the  wisdom  of  Kamehameha  the 
Great,  who,  when  birds  were  caught  for  him  to  pluck 
certain,  feathers  for  his  leis  and  Ttahilis,  would  not  let 
them  be  killed,  but  set  loose  again,  to  give  feathers,  he 
said,  to  his  sons.  And  when  they  cut  young  sticks  of 
sandal-wood,  he  remonstrated  with  them,  and  said,  "Is 
it,  indeed,  that  you  do  not  know  my  sons  ?  To  them 
the  young  sandal-wood  belongs." 

A  sure  sign  of  thrift  and  civilization,  which  I  have 


70  LIFE    IN   THE    SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

seen  a  very  few  times  in  Hawaiians,  is  the  planting  of 
trees.  Ask  them  why  they  don't  do  it  more  in  a  land 
where  shade  is  such  a  blessing,  and  they  will  answer, 
it  will  do  them  no  good;  they  would  never  enjoy  them ; 
it  is  a  inea  lapuwale  for  them.  But  such  improvidence 
is  not  at  all  to  be  wondered  at,  when  we  consider  the 
uncertain  tenure  upon  which  they  have  hitherto  held 
their  lands.  Any  improvements  made  by  a  common 
man  would  have  been  only  a  premium  to  covetousness 
and  injustice  on  the  part  of  his  chief,  and  would  be 
likely  to  insure  the  alienation  of  property  whose  en 
hanced  value  made  it  a  Naboth's  vineyard  to  some 
Hawaiian  Ahab. 

The  planting  of  trees  anywhere  indicates  the  posses 
sion  of  a  freehold,  and  the  beginning  of  a  prosperous 
and  sound  state,  in  which  the  rights  of  property  are 
respected,  and  justice  is  rendered  between  man  and 
man.  It  is  what  Washington  Irving,  speaking  of  the 
English  fondness  for  trees,  calls  "  the  heroic  line  of 
husbandry,  worthy  of  liberal,  free-born,  and  aspiring 
men.  He  who  plants  an  oak  looks  forward  to  future 
ages,  and  plants  for  posterity.  He  cannot  expect  to  sit 
in  its  shade,  nor  enjoy  its  shelter ;  but  he  exults  in  the 
idea  that  the  acorn  he  has  buried  in  the  earth  shall  grow 
up  into  a  lofty  pile,  and  shall  keep  on  flourishing,  and 
increasing,  and  benefiting  mankind,  long  after  he  shall 
have  ceased  to  tread  his  paternal  hills." 

The  laws  framed  within  three  or  four  years  nominally 
secure  the  right  of  property  to  Hawaiians ;  but  in  their 
administration  justice  was  far  from  being  even,  espe- 


CHARACTER   OF   THE   FUTURE   RACE.  Tl 

cially  on  the  Island  of  Hawaii,  under  the  management 
of  Governor  Adams,  who  was  averse  to  quitting  the 
ancient  regime,  or  waiving  any  of  the  privileges  of  the 
chiefs.  But  liberty  and  law  are  everywhere  gaining 
force,  and  a  revolution  is  in  progress  which  will  insure 
good  government  and  equal  rights,  if  the  people  only 
survive  to  enjoy  them.  The  philanthropist  and  Chris 
tian  cannot  help  ardently  desiring  it,  and  deprecating 
as  most  melancholy  the  decay  of  the  race,  just  as  it 
might  be  beginning  to  enjoy  the  liberty  and  all  the  be 
nign  ameliorations  of  the  Gospel. 

But  if,  in  the  all-wise  providence  of  God,  the  event 
be  contrary  to  what  we  naturally  desire,  they  who 
have  been  laboring  sincerely  to  save  the  nation  will 
not  lose  their  reward.  They  are  laying  the  foundations 
for  many  generations,  and  the  good  of  their  labors 
shall  redound  for  ages.  Their  reward  is  with  them, 
and  their  work  before  them.  The  church  they  have 
planted  shall  continue  so  long  as  the  sun  and  moon  en 
dure,  throughout  all  generations..  The  Lord  shall  have 
here  a  seed  to  serve  him  to  the  end  of  time. 

And  though  the  nation's  blood  run  out,  and  there  be 
left  a  mongrel  race  of  self-glorifying  Anglo-Americans 
and  other  foreigners,  that  like  the  Jews  of  Nehemiah's 
day,  "married  wives  of  Ashdod,  of  Ammon,  and  of 
Moab,  and  their  children  spake  half  in  the  speech  of 
Ashdod,"  yet  it  shall  be  not  less  a  people  to  serve  God, 
to  reap  the  benefit  of,  and  to  be  moulded  by,  the  institu 
tions  of  the  Gospel  planted  now.  Meanwhile,  although 
the  Hawaiians  melt  away,  and  it  be  sad  to  see  a  nation 


72  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH    ISLANDS. 

dying  out,  we  will  take  the  consolation  given  by  the 
chorus  in  Milton's  Samson  Agonistes — 

All  is  best,  though  we  oft  doubt, 

What  the  unsearchable  dispose 
Of  highest  wisdom  brings  about, 

And  ever  best  found  in  its  close. 

Lahaina  is  one  of  those  places  which  you  like  much 
better  as  you  approach  or  recede  from  it,  than  when 
you  are  actually  in  it.  A  little  way  off  it  seems 
sweetly  embosomed  in  bread-fruit  trees,  and  all  fresh 
and  lovely  with  sunshine  and  verdure,  calmly  inclosed 
seaward  within  a  fence  of  foam,  made  by  the  sea  break 
ing  upon  the  coral  reef.  Eide  over  the  rollers  in  a 
whale-boat  or  native  canoe,  get  to  the  sun-burnt,  dusty 
land,  walk  up  a  few  rods,  perhaps  with  white  panta 
loons,  to  the  mission-houses,  and  make  acquaintance  on 
the  way  to  your  heart's  content  with  Lahaina  dust  and 
caloric,  and  you  will  probably  by  that  time  be  saying 
to  yourself— 

'Twas  distance  lent  enchantment  to  the  view. 

• 

However,  dirt,  fleas,  mosquitoes,  and  heat  to  the 
contrary  notwithstanding,  Lahaina  has  so  salubrious 
and  dry  a  climate,  and  advantages  for  healthful  sea 
bathing  all  the  year  round,  that  one  who  is  any  thing 

of  an  invalid  likes  to  be  there,  or,  what  is  better,  two 

.. 

miles  above,  at  the  seminary  of  Lahainaluna.  It  is 
said  that  the  greatest  observed  elevation  of  the  mer 
cury  here  in  Fahrenheit's  thermometer,  for  ten  years, 
was  86  deg. ;  the  lowest,  54  deg.  The  wind  is  the  alter- 


HOW    TO   MEET   A   STORM   OF   DUST.  73 

nating  land  and  sea  breeze.  A  steep  mountainous  ridge 
in  the  rear  entirely  breaks  off  the  trades,  and,  receiving 
all  their  rain,  carries  it  distilled  below  in  a  fertilizing 
stream  that  irrigates  all  the  valley  and  vega  of  Lahaina, 
and  is  spent  before  it  reaches  the  sea. 

Two  or  three  times  in  a  year  the  trades  whirl  over 
the  mountain,  and  then  woe  to  the  man's  eyes  that  are 
so  luckless  as  to  be  found  in  it.  From  hill  and  plain 
there  are  caught  up  great,  suffocating  volumes  of  red 
dust,  that  envelop  all  the  town,  and  even  roll  off  to 
ships  in  the  roadstead,  and  redden  the  sea.  Closed 
doors  and  windows  are  as  mere  lattice-work  for  it.  It 
traverses  stone  walls  and  adobes,  human  lungs  and  ears, 
and  I  know  not  but  livers,  and  permeates  every  thing. 
If  a  man's  eyes  only  escape  being  filled  and  getting  the 
ophthalmia,  he  is  well  off.  But  the  blow  over,  all  is 
well  again.  The  sea  or  the  translucent  Lahainaluna 
water  is  there  to  wash  in,  and,  merrily  making  your  ab 
lutions  within  and  without,  you'll  sing — 

Cold  water  for  me,  cold  water  for  me ! 
But  wine  for  the  tremulous  debauchee  ! 

The  mission-house  here,  being  the  first  built,  and 
(until  his  embassy  abroad)  occupied  by  Mr.  Richards, 
and  the  one  now  occupied  by  Mr.  Baldwin,  are  situated 
in  the  very  busiest  and  dirtiest  part  of  the  to\^.  Prob 
ably  it  was  a  retired  spot,  surrounded  by  kalo  ^patches, 
when  selected  and  given  by  Keopuolani,  in  1824.  But 
the  concourse  of  business  and  ships  have  so  increased 
both  the  population  and  noise,  that  the  place  has  be- 


74:  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

come  a  most  undesirable  one  for  residence,  and  espe 
cially  for  rearing  children.  Juvenal's  caution  can  hard 
ly  be  kept  there : 

Nil  dictu  foedum,  visu  que  haec  limina  tangat 

Intra  quae  puer  est — 

Maxima  debetur  puero  reverentia.* 

Somewhat  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  mile  to  the  south 
east,  within  a  verdant  and  shaded  inclosure,  is  the 
large  galleried  Stone  Church  and  burying-ground.  It 
is  the  first  stone  meeting-house  built  at  the  Islands,  and 
does  credit  to  its  architect,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Richards. 
When  he  found  its  steeple  to  have  settled  away  a  little 
from  the  main  body  of  the  house,  so  as  to  threaten  a 
fall,  he  cleverly  made  it  fast  by  iron  clamps  and  chains. 
It  will  accommodate  two  thousand  people. 

The  Gospel  preached  there  has  been  sometimes  quick 
and  powerful,  and  full  of  edification  and  life  to  good 
old  chiefs  and  common  kanakas.  The  veteran  Hoapili, 
when  unable  to  sit  up  but  a  few  minutes,  had  himself 
carried  there  only  ten  days  before  his  death  in  1840,  to 
be  once  more  blessed  by  the  ordinances  of  God's  house. 
No  serious  blot,  say  the  missionaries,  is  known  to  have 
attached  to  the  Christian  character  of  this  chief  while 
living,  and  now  that  he  is  gone,  his  memory  is  sweet. 
Those  who  saw  and  conversed  with  him  while  he  was 
waiting  the  summons  of  death,  were  much  aifected  with 


*  Let  nothing  foul  to  eye  or  ear  be  ever  seen  or  heard  about  those 
doors  which  inclose  your  boy.  To  eager  and  imitating  childhood  we 
owe  a  scrupulous  reverence  and  care. 


-  DEATH    AND   BURIAL    OF   HOAPILI.  75 

his  deportment.  He  was  wakeful  and  deeply  interested 
in  the  prospect  of  the  change  that  awaited  him,  and  he 
longed  to  depart  and  be  with  Christ. 

"  He.  seemed  to  be  emptied  of  self,  to  be  lowly  in  his 
own  eyes,  and  to  cast  himself  with  much  confidence  on 
Christ.  The  word  of  God  and  prayer  were  his  delight, 
and  from  these  he  sought  solace  till  he  was  insensible 
to  every  thing  earthly.  His  last  interview  with  the 
king  was  said  to  have  been  tender  and  affecting  in  the 
extreme.  After  conversing  with  him  in  a  dignified 
manner  for  a  time,  alluding  to  his  own  dependence, 
and  beseeching  the  king  to  abandon  his  sins,  and  be 
come  a  good  man,  he  became  much  affected,  laid  his 
head  on  the  lap  of  the  king,  and  burst  into  a  flood 
of  tears.  As  he  lay  dying,  he  gave  a  charge  concern 
ing  his  bones,  strictly  forbidding  wailing  on  the  occa 
sion  of  his  death,  and  desiring  that  his  grave  might 
be  an  humble  one  near  the  sleeping-place  of  Mr. 
McDonald,  a  departed  missionary." 

There  they  lie  in  the  burying-ground,  hard  by  to 
gether,  the  missionary  teacher  and  the  converted  hea 
then  chief,  with  a  little  group  of  baptized  missionaries' 
children,  whom  Christ  has  taken  from  the  care  of  pa 
rents  to  be  safe  with  himself. 

"  God  their  Redeemer  lives, 
And  ever  from  the  skies 
Looks  down  and  watches  all  their  dust, 
Till  he  shall  bid  it  rise." 

The  good  old  chief  then  will  come  forth  in  his  new 
attire,  with  the  vigor  of  immortal  youth,  wondering  at 


76  LIFE   IN   THE    SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 


the  grace  of  a  Saviour  to  a  dark-minded  savage  ;  and, 
methinks,  it  will  be  with  no  common  energy  that  he 
will  lead  a  file  of  ransomed  Hawaiians  in  that  blest 
song,  "  Worthy  is  the  Lamb :" 

Loud  as  from  numbers  without  number, 
Sweet  as  from  blest  voices  uttering  joy ! 

How  beautiful  is  that  poem  by  Longfellow  called 
God's- Acre,  which  I  can  never  enter  a  Christian  bury- 
ing-ground  without  calling  to  mind  ! 

I  LIKE  that  ancient  Saxon  phrase,  which  calls 
The  burial-ground  God's- Acre !     It  is  just ; 

It  consecrates  each  grave  within  its  walls, 

And  breathes  a  benison  o'er  the  sleeping  dust. 

God's-Acre  I     Yes,  that  blessed  name  imparts 
Comfort  to  those  who  in  the  grave  have  sown 

The  seed  that  they  had  garnered  in  their  hearts, 
Their  bread  of  life,  alas  !  no  more  their  own. 

Into  its  furrows  shall  we  all  be  cast, 

In  the  sure  faith  that  we  shall  rise  again 

At  tfie  great  harvest,  when  the  archangel's  blast 
Shall  winnow,  like  a  fan,  the  chaff  and  grain. 

Then  shall  the  good  stand  in  immortal  bloom, 
In  the  fair  gardens  of  that  second  birth ; 

And  each  bright  blossom  mingle  its  perfume 

With  that  of  flowers  which  never  bloomed  on  earth. 

With  thy  rude  ploughshare,  Death,  turn  up  the  sod, 
And  spread  the  furrow  for  the  seed  we  sow : 

This  is  the  field  and  Acre  of  our  God ; 

This  is  the  place  where  human  harvests  grow ! 

It  was  of  this  remarkable  Hawaiian  chief,  now  peace 
fully  sleeping  in  God's-Acre  at  Lahaina,  that  a  story  is 
told  which  well  illustrates  his  native  strength  of  mind. 


HIS    WAY    OF   PROVING   THE    EAETII   BOUND.  77 

Upon  the  publication  by  the  missionaries  of  a  little 
treatise  on  the  true  principles  of  geography  and  astron 
omy,  surprise  and  doubt  were  expressed  by  some,  and 
they  disputed  before  Hoapili  about  the  figure  of  the 
earth.  "  Stop,"  said  the  old  chief;  "  do  not  be  so  quick 
with  your  objections  to  the  foreign  theory.  Let  us  look 
at  it.  This  is  what  I  have  always  seen.  When  I  have 
been  far  out  at  sea  on  fishing  excursions,  I  at  first  lost 
sight  of  the  beach,  then  of  the  houses  and  trees,  then  of 
the  hills,  and  last  of  the  high  mountains.  So  when  I 
returned,  the  first  objects  which  I  saw  were  the  high 
mountains,  then  the  hills,  then  the  trees  and  houses, 
and,  last  of  all,  the  beach.  I  think,  therefore,  that  these 
foreigners  are  right,  and  that  the  earth  is  round." 

The  influence  of  Hoapili  and  Hoapiliwahine  his  wife 
was  valuable  and  excellent  many  ways.  •  Among  other 
things,  they  taught  the  people  at  Lahaina  to  be  liberal 
to  their  ministers,  and  it  should  be  said  to  their  praise, 
that  they  are  more  than  usually  attentive  at  this  station 
in  bringing  poultry,  fruits,  vegetables,  dried  fish,  &c.,  as 
marks  of  their  aloha  (love)  both  to  Christ  and  their  wor 
thy  pastor.  This  liberal  spirit  can  be  easily  encouraged 
and  turned  to  good  account,  so  as  entirely  to  support 
among  them  the  institutions  of  the  Gospel. 

The  Church  at  this  station,  by  the  annual  report  for 
1849,  numbers  637  members — ordinary  attendance  on 
the  Sabbath  at  the  meeting-house,  twelve  or  thirteen 
hundred.  Some  of  them  are,  for  Hawaiians,  men  of  con 
siderable  substance ;  are  owners  of  horses  and  cattle, 
make  molasses  from  the  sugar-cane,  have  lands  on  which 


78  LIFE   1ST   THE   SAOTWICH   ISLANDS. 

they  raise  potatoes  for  ships,  besides  kalo-patches  that 
furnish  their  own  food,  and  are  officers  of  government. 

Almost  the  same  may  be  said  of  their  pecuniary  abil 
ity  at  Honolulu,  and  particulars  might  be  given  of  the 
ways  in  which  Hawaiians  at  these  ports  can  now  get 
money,  and  of  the  ease  with  which  much  of  it  can  be 
applied  to  support  the  preachers  of  the  Gospel.  They 
make  out  a  strong  case  why  the  missionaries  at  these 
places,  the  two  central  stations  first  taken,  and  from 
which  there  is  constantly  emanating  a  powerful  influ 
ence  throughout  the  entire  group,  should  have  been 
supported  by  the  people  for  two  or  three  years  past  ;* 
and  the  late  action  of  the  American  Board  in  1849,  is 
altogether  wise  and  feasible,  that  proposes  to  the  Sand 
wich  Islands  Mission  to  become  independent  of  the 
home  treasury,  and  to  throw  itself  upon  the  people  for 
support. 

The  readiness  of  the  missionaries  to  accede  to  this 
proposition  and  to  make  the  experiment  of  self-support, 
trusting  under  God  to  the  generosity  of  the  people,  is 
worthy  of  all  praise,  as  it  is  in  keeping  with  the  charac 
ter  they  have  won  before  all  the  world  for  ability,  zeal, 
and  devotion.  The  general  success  of  this  experiment 
can  hardly  be  doubted,  though  it  may  fail  at  some  par 
ticular  stations  for  reasons  purely  local. 

do  not  think  the  objection  valid,  that  you  cannot 


*  -The  whole  amount  of  contributions  for  all  benevolent  and  religious 
purposes,  in  the  two  Native  Churches  of  Honolulu  for  the  year  1850, 
is  $1733.9.2. 


HOW   MISSIONARIES   SHOULD   BE   SUPPORTED.  79 

expect  the  people  to  give  seven  or  eight  times  as  much 
to  their  teacher  as  it  takes  to  support  one  of  their  own 
families.  Hawaiians  know  the  wants  of  foreigners  are 
more  than  theirs,  are  glad  to  have  it  so,  and  would  be 
unwilling  that  their  teachers  should  live  like  them 
selves.  And  as  to  any  natural  scruples  at  receiving 
from  people  so  poor,  and  that  live  so  miserably  desti 
tute  of  the  comforts  of  civilized  life,  we  think  they  had 
better  be  set  over  against  the  contributions  of  many  at 
home,  who  give  out  of  the  abundance  of  their  joy  and 
their  deep  poverty r,  by  rigid  economy,  and  the  voluntary 
deprivation  of  luxuries  which  are  missed  far  more  than 
the  poor  Hawaiians'  hapaha,  or  hapalua,  or  dollar 
would  be,  if  given  to  his  minister. 

Ships  put  in  circulation  here  a  good  deal  of  money, 
spent  by  sailors,  and  in  lieu  of  fresh  supplies.  Many  of 
the  reals,  and  half-dollars,  and  dollars  so  distributed, 
fall  into  the  hands  of  common  church  members,  who 
being  supplied,  for  the  most  part,  otherwise  with  food, 
and  having  as  yet  few  artificial  wants,  might  as  well  as 
not  bestow  many  of  thenf  upon  their  teacher. 

In  this  connection,  we  cannot  help  saying,  that  we 
think  it  would  be  far  better  for  American  missionaries 
everywhere  to  be  allowed  to  hold  property,  and  honor 
ably  help  themselves,  and  to  be  in  every  respect  upon 
the  same  footing  as  ministers  at  home ;  and  that  they 
should  be  enjoined  to  urge  the  people  to  whom  they 
preach  to  contribute  all  in  their  power  for  their  support. 
We  think  there  would  in  this  way  be  more  economy, 
and  more  manliness  and  proper  independence  both  in 


80  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

the  missionary  ministers  and  their  families,  and  in  the 
churches.  The  dangers  of  undue  acquisitiveness,  neg 
lect  of  missionary  work,  and  worldjy-mindedness  might 
be  guarded  against.  Missions  generally,  certainly  those 
that  are  so  far  advanced  as  the  Sandwich  Islands  Mis 
sion,  would  thus  cost  the  Board  less,  and  do  the  people 
more  good;  by  stimulating  them  early  to  maintain  their 
own  religious  institutions.  (  This  always  leaning  upon 
America,  David  Malo  says,  is  not  good.  If  America 
should  give  way,  we  should  break  our  backs.  We  had 
better  learn  early  to  stand  alone.  ! 

It  is  upon  the  Hawaiian  democracy  mainly  that  the 
support  of  the  Church  at  these  Islands  must  henceforth 
depend ;  ipr  with  the  decease  of  Hoapili  and  Kapiolani 
the  race  of  godly  chiefs  seems  to  have  become  extinct. 
Few  are  surviving  that  can  boast  of  chiefs'  blood.  Ho 
apili  died  without  issue.  The  governor  of  Hawaii  dies 
childless.  The  king  and  the  premier  (Auhea)  have  no 
offspring ;  nor  is  there  a  high-chief  living  that  has  a  lin 
eal  heir.  Most  of  the  chief  boys  and  girls  in  school  at 
Honolulu  are  half-breeds,  or  adopted  heirs,  and  the  chil 
dren  of  the  former  premier  Kinau. 

It  is  a  remarkable  fact,  and  would  seem  to  argue 
somewhat  of  Providence  and  destiny,  that  so  large  a 
body  of  rulers  by  birthright  should  so  soon  give  out. 
Their  rapid  extinction  is  even  more  manifest  and  sig 
nificant  than  that  of  the  people.  Perhaps  in  the  mys 
terious  counsels  of  the  Most  High,  their  days  are  num 
bered,  and  the  end  of  their  existence  as  a  nation  is 
near.  If  it  prove  to  be  so,  it  will  remain  to  be  re- 


VISIONS    OF   THE   FUTURE    MILLENNIUM.  81 

marked  how  the  date  of  their  depopulation  and  decay,  like 
that  of  all  the  other  islanders  of  the  Pacific,  and  the  tribes 
of  North  and  South  America,  synchronizes  with  their 
discovery  and  the  offer  made  them  of  the  Gospel. 

Through*  their  acceptance  of  the  latter,  although  they 
now  become  extinct,  the  prophecy  will  be  made  good, 
that  in  him  (O/irist)  shall  all  nations  of  the  earth  he 
hlessed.  Redeemed  unto  God  out  of  every  kindred,  and 
tongue,  and  people,  and  tribe,  and  nation,  there  shall 
be  some  to  sing,  "  Thou,  Lord,  art  worthy."  With 
thanks  and  everlasting  joy  the  ransomed  Hawaiian,  the 
Indian,  the  Hottentot,  the  South  Sea  Islander,  the 
"  natives  of  Ormus  and  of  Ind,"  shall  come  up  to  the 

general  assembly  and  church  of  the  first-born. 

• 

From  every  isle,  from  every  clime  they  come, 

To  see  thy  beauty  and  to  share  thy  joy, 

0  Zion  !  an  assembly  such  as  earth 

Saw  never,  such  as  heaven  stoops  down  to  see ! 

Bright  as  a  sun  the  sacred  city  shines : 

All  kingdoms  and  all  princes  of  the  earth 

Flock  to  that  light ;  the  glory  of  all  lands 

Flows  into  her  ;  unbounded  is  her  joy, 

And  endless  her  increase.     Thy  rams  are  there, 

Nebaioth,  and  the  flocks  of  Kedar  there : 

The  looms  of  Ormus  and  the  mines  of  Ind, 

And  Saba's  spicy  groves  pay  tribute  there. 

Praise  is  in  all  her  gates  ;  upon  her  walls, 

And  in  her  streets,  and  in  her  spacious  courts, 

Is  heard  salvation.     Eastern  Java  there 

Kneels  with  the  native  of  the  farthest  West ; 

And  Ethiopia  spreads  abroad  the  hand, 

And  worships.     Her  report  has  travelled  forth 

Into  all  lands.     Thus  heavenward  all  things  tend. 

COWPER. 

4* 


LIFE    IN    THE    SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

THE    FOOTSTEPS    OF    BEAUTY    TRACED    BY    A    TRAVELLER    IN 
NATURE,    LANGUAGE,    AND    RELIGION. 

THERE'S  beauty  all  around  our  paths,  if  but  our  watchful  eyes 
Can  trace  it  'midst  familiar  things,  and  through  their  lowly  guise. 
Yes  !  beauty  dwells  in  all  our  paths — but  sorrow  too  is  there  : 
How  oft  some  cloud  within  us  dims  the  bright,  still  summer  air  ! 
But  know  that  by  the  lights  and  clouds  through  which  our  pathway  lies, 
By  the  beauty  and  the  grief  alike  we  are  training  for  the  skies. 

MRS.  HEMAJIS. 

A  canoe  takes  us  to  Wailuku — Elements  of  the  beautiful  at  home  and  abroad — Morn 
ing  on  the  mountain— Effect  of  natural  scenery  upon  childhood— Curious  Hawaiian 
etymologies — A  catalogue  of  queer  appellatives — The  peculiar  genius  and  idioms  of 
the  Hawaiian  tongue— Words  to  be  domesticated  into  English — Conversational  uses 
of  the  native — Commendable  solicitude  of  Hawaiians  for  the  purity  of  their  lan 
guage—Classical  discussion  at  an  assembly  of  teachers— Fear  of  barbarous  innova 
tions  from  abroad— A  book  of  fables  suggested— Their  uses  illustrated— Isaac  Taylor 
on  the  employment  of  the  Esopian  vehicle  of  instruction — Notices  of  the  Wailuku 
church  and  pastor — Resolutions  for  the  independent  support  of  the  ministry — 
Praiseworthy  instance  of  Hawaiian  gratitude— Mr.  Green's  experiment  at  Makawao 
—Beneficial  results— Reasonings  of  natives— Union  of  faith  and  works— Affecting 
tests  of  Christianity— Resolv.es  of  pastors  preparatory  to  independency— Initiatory 
steps— Remarkable  consummation  in  the  jubilee  year  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

Six  hours'  sail  by  canoe  along  the  coast  of  Maui, 
and  a  walk  of  eight  miles,  have  brought  us  to  Wailuku, 
the  windward  station  of  this  island,  where  constitu 
tions  debilitated  by  the  long-continued  heat  and  con 
finement  of  a  leeward  residence,  find  repair  and 
health  from  the  bracing  trades  and  exercise  on 


GKAZING-QROUNDS   BETWEEN   THE   MOUNTAINS.          83 

horseback,  for  which  latter  there  are  more  facili 
ties  in  roads  and  horses  than  at  any  station  yet 
visited. 

The  mission-houses  are  situated  on  a  gently  sloping 
plain,  about  half  a  mile  from  the  base  of  an  abrupt 
mountainous  ridge,  that  rises  in  some  of  its  peaks  to 
the  height  of  six  or  seven  thousand  feet.  The  tract  is 
watered  by  a  side  canal  from  a  stream  that  is  abun 
dantly  supplied  by  mountains. 

On  whose  rugged  breast 

The  laboring  clouds  do  often  rest. 

The  plain  looks  towards  the  east,  and  slopes  down 
ward  to  the  sea  on  both  sides,  at  the  north  and  south, 
being  traversed  by  a  range  of  sand-hills  that  separate 
East  and  West  Maui.  These  were  once  two  islands, 
and  are  now  divided  only  by  the  sand  and  a  low  isth 
mus,  daily  enlarging,  which,  together  with  the  tracts 
on  each  side,  furnish  pasturage  for  large  herds  of  cat 
tle,  horses,  and  goats. 

There  is  beauty  here,  material  and  moral,  human 
and  divine,  on  the  blue  sea  always  in  sight,  and  on 
the  green  or  sun-dried  land.  There  is  beauty  within 
the  mission-houses,  and  beauty  abroad  in  the  daily 
paths  of  usefulness  trodden  assiduously,  by  the  labo 
rious  men  and  women  to  whom  Providence  has  here 
assigned  a  sphere  of  duty,  in  which  they  cheerfully 
revolve.  There  are  trials,  and  sorrows,  and  crosses, 
too,  here,  as  always  in  the  lot  of  man,  which  true 
piety,  however,  is  converting  daily  into  elements  of 


84:  LIFE    IN    THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS! 

beauty.  Hence  it  is  that  we  have  taken  the  motto 
of  this  Chapter  from  that  beautiful  composition  of 
England's  Poetess,  "  Our  Daily  Paths,"  written  in 

The  cheerful  faith  that  all  which  we  behold 
Is  full  of  blessings. 

I  have  said  there  is  beauty  abroad ;  for  as  you  look 
off  to  the  east,  towering  up  to  heaven  in  calm  majesty, 
there  is  the  beautiful  long  mountain  of  Hale-a-Ka-La, 
or  The  House  of.  the  Sun.  From  its  top,  ten  thousand 
feet  above  the  re'st  of  the  world,  the  bright  eye  of  day 
opens  every  morning  with  a  golden  glory,  and  sends 
his  level  beams  across  to  the  opposite  range  on  West 
Maui,  and  aslant  down  the  mountain's  fire-worn  sides, 
showing  the  cones  and  chasms  of  old  volcanoes. 
Sometimes  a  snow-drift  lies  on  its  summit  in  the 
morning.  Always  it  is  there,  the  same  great  object 
in  its  quiet  beauty,  wrhich  from  morning  to  morning  it 
does  one  good  to  behold. 

To  rise  up  a  little  before  the  sun,  and  look  out  upon 
the  azure  face  of  that  calm  mountain,  beautiful  in  its 
distance  and  repose,  and  lofty  and  vast  as  the  Al 
mighty  made  it,  can  hardly  fail  of  filling  a  heart  with 
joy  that  is  at  peace  with  God. 

By  half  past  nine  or  ten,  clouds  have  drifted  on  to 
its  bosom,  and  there  they  are  all  day  long,  the  blue 
crown  of  the  mountain  alone  visible  above  them, 
until  nightfall,  when  they  generally  vanish  or  sail 
away,  and  leave  it  open  to  the  beams  of  the  moon  and 
stars. 


POWER    OF   NATURAL    SCENERY    IN    YOUTH.  85 

The  salutary  moral  influence  of  opening  one's  eyes 
every  morning  upon  such  a  scene,  though  it  may  be 
imperceptible  at  the  time,  is  very  great.  It  is  well 
for  a  family  of  children  that  they  may  drink  it  in  and 
have  joy  in  it,  although  they  do  not  know  why;  and 
in  beholding  all  the  beautiful  things  of  nature,  which 
they  never  stop,  in  their  innocent  delight,  to  call  beau 
tiful,  or  once  think  what  it  is  that  is  making  them  so 
happy. 

Yet  all  the  while,  if  their  training  within  doors  be 
only  right,  by  such  joyous  intercourse  with  nature  in 
a  happy  childhood,  they  are  laying  a  broad  foundation 
of  permanent  after  peace.  Even  as  we  are  instructed 
in  the  "Excursion," 

Thus  deeply  drinking  in  the  soul  of  things, 

We  shall  be  wise  perforce ;  and  while  inspired 

By  Truth,  and  conscious  that  the  will  is  free, 

Unswerving  we  shall  move,  as  if  impelled 

By  strict  necessity  along  the  path 

Of  order  and  of  good.     Whate'er  we  see, 

Whate'er  we  feel,  by  agency  direct 

Or  indirect,  shall  tend  to  feed  and  nurse 

Our  faculties,  shall  fix  in  calmer  seats 

Of  moral  strength,  and  raise  to  loftier  heights 

Of  love  divine,  our  intellectual  soul. 

There  are  in  this  region  four  streams  in  succession 
from  the  different  gorges  of  the  mountain,  significant 
ly  named,  it  is  thought,  from  the  events  of  battles 
which  have  transpired  upon  them.  Wwikapu — The 
water  where  the  conch  was  blown,  and  the  engage 
ment  began.  Waiehu — The  water  where  the  com- 


86  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

batants  smoked  with  dust  and  perspiration.  Wai- 
liiku — The  water  of  destruction,  where  the  battle 
began  to  be  fierce  and  fatal.  WaiJiee — The  water 
of  total  rout  and  defeat,  where  the  army  melted 
away. 

The  Hawaiians  were  particularly  fond  of  annexing 
a  wai,  (water,)  if  possible,  in  the  names  of  places.  It 
is  like  the  Eastern  word  wadi,  (water,)  that  occurs  so 
often  in  the  names  of  places  in  Arabia,  as  "Wadi  Mousa, 
Wadi  Seder,  &c.  Undoubtedly  it  is  the  same  word, 
with  the  mere  ellipsis,  for  euphony's  sake,  of  the  con 
sonant  d. 

And  it  might  be  remarked,  in  passing,  that  not  a 
few  of  such  verbal  analogies  go  far  towards  proving 
the  original  identity  of  the  languages  of  Polynesia 
and  the  East.  Almost  all  valleys  in  Hawaii-nei,  and 
places  that  have  the  precious  boon  of  water,  are  call 
ed  wai  with  some  descriptive  epithet,  as  Waiohinu, 
sparkling  water ;  Waialua,  two  waters,  or  double  wa 
ter  ;  Kawaihae,  broken  waters,  &c. 

In  giving  names,  to  each  other,  and  to  their  children, 
Hawaiians  were  often  not  a  little  whimsical  and -droll. 
The  most  trifling  circumstance  or  accident  fixed  their 
nomenclature ;  and  names  were  as  likely  to  be  taken 
from  things  and  qualities  disgusting  and  vile,  as 
from  the  opposite,  and  to  be  borne  without  any  dis 
grace. 

You  might  know  that  a  people  must  have  been  vile 
from  the  vile  names  they  assume  and  wear  without 
shame — names  that  one  would  be  unwilling  to  trans- 


CUKIOUS   HAWAIIAN   ETYMOLOGIES.  87 

late.  All  evil  appetites  and  qualities,  bodily  organs 
and  deformities,  mischievous  acts  and  vices,  were 
turned  into  names.  Thus  there  are  persons  named 
Moekolohe,  (adultery;)  Kekuko,  (lust;)  Kahahu,  (an 
ger;)  Haaheo,  (pride;)  Kalili,  (jealousy;)  Kaino,  (bad;) 
Ailme,  (thief;)  Wahahe,  (liar;)  Pelapela,  (filth;)  Mo- 
Iowa,  (lazy  ;)  Pupule,  (crazy  ;)  Puhi-baka,  (tobacco- 
smoker  ;)  Inurama,  (rum-drinker,)  &c. 

It  is  not  a  little  amusing  sometimes,  though  it  be 
disgusting  at  others,  to  trace  out  their  etymologies. 
"When  the  chief  woman,  Kapiolani,  at  Kealakekua, 
was  sick,  and  had  submitted  to  a  surgical  operation, 
a  child  of  a  common  man  happening  to  be  born  about 
that  time,  was  called  Four-Inches-Long,  in  order  to 
commemorate  the  length  of  the  wound. 

So,  not  to  mention  a  great  variety  of  natural  objects 
from  which  they  derived  names,  there  are  some  men 
noways  deformed,  called  Pupuka,  (crooked ;)  Maka- 
ino,  (ugly-face ;)  Kamakalepo,  (dirty-face  ;)  Kealiio- 
punui,  (big-bellied-chief ;)  Blind-of-one-eye,  Lame-of- 
one-leg,  &c. 

The  names  of  the  Diabolonians  and  Men  of  Man- 
Soul  in  Bunyan's  Holy  War,  or  of  the  soldiers  of 
Cromwell's  army,  are  not  more  whimsical  and  odd 
than  are  to  be  found  often  in  Hawaii-nei.  Messrs. 
Jolly,  Gripe,  Griggish,  Eake-all,  and  their  excellen 
cies,  Mr.  Carnal-sense,  Live-by-feeling,  Love-lust,  Hate- 
good,  Mr.  Facing-both-ways,  Sergeant  Bind-their-kings- 
in-chains,  Captain  Hew-Agag-in-pieces-before-the-Lord, 
and  others,  compare  very  well  with  the  queer  appella- 


88  LIFE   IN   THE    SANDWICH    ISLANDS. 

tions  by  which  Hawaiians  often  call  each  other  and 
foreigners. 

Missionaries  were  for  a  long  time  called  the  Ai-oe-oe, 
(long-necks,)  because,  when  the  Hawaiians  first  saw 
the  missionary  wives  with  bonnets,  making  them  to 
appear  as  if  long-necked,  they  cried  out,  Ai-oe-oe. 
Chiefs  among  them  went  by  many  names,  all  expres 
sive  of  something ;  and  a  new  name  was  frequently 
assumed  after  any  exploit  or  event  of  their  lives,  to 
keep  it  in  memory,  as  the  Romans  honored  their  suc 
cessful  generals  with  appellations  derived  from  the 
cities  or  countries  which  they  had  conquered ;  as,  Caius 
Marcius  Coriolanus,  Scipio  Africanus,  Cato  Uticensis, 
&c.  The  names  of  the  present  King,  Kaui-ke-ao-uli, 
and  of  the  Premier,  Ke-kau-luohe,  mean  Hanging- 
upori-the-blue-sky,  and  Bamboo-grove. 

The  Hawaiian  language,  that  admits  so  readily  of 
these  compounds,  is  simple  in  its  structure,  and  very 
easy  and  uniform  both  in  its  orthography  and  pronun 
ciation.  Aside  from  the  facile  genius  of-  the  tongue, 
this  is  owing  to  the  good  sense  and  judgment  of  the 
missionaries  who  first  reduced  it  to  writing.  They  ad 
mitted  no  silent  letters,  and  adopted  the  uniform 
Spanish  designation  of  the  vowel-sounds.  Hence,  as 
in  that  beautiful  language,  a,  e,  i,  o,  and  u,  always 
have  each  but  one,  and  its  own  sound,  varied  only 
by  quantity :  so  that,  unlike  what  is  found  in  the 
English  and  French,  the  language  is  spelt  and  pro 
nounced  just  as  it  is  written,  and  vice  versa.  Any 
one  that  has  a  knowledge  of  the  Spanish  at  once 


PECULIAR   HAWAIIAN   IDIOMS.  89 

slides  into  the  pronunciation  of  the  Hawaiian  vow 
els. 

The  variety  of  only  twelve  letters  expresses  every 
Hawaiian  sound,  by  reason  of  which,  and  the  constant 
repetition  of  vowel  terminations,  the  language  to  for 
eigners  sounds  monotonous.  Also,  no  word  ever  ends 
in  a  consonant,  nor  can  two  consonant  sounds  come  to 
gether,  but  a  vowel  is  always  interposed.  Thus,  an 
Hawaiian,  in  writing  or  pronouncing  Boston,  Lon 
don,  Bedford,  will  say  JBosetona,  Lonedona,  JBede- 
foda. 

Some  of  the  idioms  are  very  peculiar  and  curious. 
There  is  no  auxiliary  verb  to  fie,  nor  any  word  to  ex 
press  the  abstract  idea  of  being  or  existence.  Good 
idiomatic  Hawaiian  is^  therefore,  in  short  sentences,  or 
clauses  thereof,  and  the  same  word  may  be  a  noun  or 
a  verb,  according  to  the  sense  to  be  expressed,  without 
change.  This,  and  the  destitution  of  general  terms, 
while  specific  ones  are  numerous,  constitutes  a  state  of 
the  language  favorable  to  the  art  of  poetry. 

There  are  no  variations  in  nouns  for  case,  number, 
or  person  ;  but  the  mood  and  tenses  of  verbs  are  pretty 
clearly  distinguished  by  simple  prefixes  and  suffixes. 
The  mode  of  conjugating  verbs,  the  existence  of  a  cau 
sative  form,  and  the  derivation  of  words  from  roots  of 
two  syllables,  are  thought  to  indicate  a  resemblance 
and  cognate  origin  with  the  Hebrew  and  other  Orient 
al  tongues. 

The  use  of  the  particle  no  in  the  way  of  affirmation 
or  affirmative  emphasis,  like  yes  indeed,  no  indeed,  is 


90  LIFE   IN  THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

very  peculiar,  as  being  so  the  reverse  of  all  the  lan 
guages  of  Europe,  where  it  is  negative.  Tell  an  Ha 
waiian  to  stop  or  leave  off  any  thing  he  is  doing,  as 
ua  oki,  ua  oki pela,  and  he  answers,  I  stop  indeed,  oki 
au  no,  or  stop  no  ! 

Ask  a  man  a  question  to  which  he  does  not  know  or 
wish  to  give  the  answer — as,  What  did  you  do  it  for?— 
and  the  reply  commonly  heard  will  be,  He  aha  la  ! 
what  indeed !  Ask  a  native  about  the  climate  of  a 
place — as,  whether  it  is  rainy  or  not — and  he  will 
think  he  gives  you  a  very  wise  answer,  though  it  is  a 
most  amusing  and  unsatisfactory  one  to  the  asker : 
Ina  ua,  ua  no,  (If  or  when  it  rains,  it  rains;)  Ina  aole, 
aole  no,  (If  not,  no  indeed ;)  .Ina  ua pinepine,  pinepine 
no,  (If  it  rain  often,  often  indeed  it  rains  ;)  A  i  ~kiki  i 
ka  manawa  ua,  ua  no,  (And  when  the  rain-time  has 
come,  there  is  rain  indeed  !) 

So,  when  you  "ask  a  native,  sometimes,  where  he  is 
going,  he  will  answer  you  very  respectfully,  E  Jiele  au 
makahi  E  hele  ai,  I  am  going  where  Tin  going,  or 
what  amounts  to  the  English  expression,  without  any 
of  its  impudence,  I  am  following  my  nose !  Ask  a 
man  whom  you  are  employing  what  shall  be  done  in 
any  exigency,  and  he  generally  answers,  Eia  no  ia  oe, 
(That's  with  you,  that's  for  you  to  say.) 

There  is  one  Hawaiian  word  which,  for  its  sin 
gular  convenience  and  expressiveness,  I  would  be 
glad  to  get  domesticated  into^  English,  'and  that  is 
Pilikia.  »They  use  it  to  signify  any  strait,  or  diffi 
culty,  or  perplexity  a  man  is  brought  into,  by  acci- 


HAWAIIAN   WORDS    WORTHY    OF   ADOPTION.  91 

dent,  or  sickness,  or  the  mismanagement  or  ill  con 
duct  of  others. 

In  the  speech  of  the  King  at  the  forced  cession  of 
the  Islands  to  Paulet,  it  occurs  very  aptly.  "  Hear 
ye  !  I  make  known  to  you  that  I  am  in  perplexity 
(piliMa)  by  reason  of  difficulties  into  which  I  have 
been  brought  without  cause ;  therefore  I  have  given 
away  the  life  of  our  land.  Hear  ye !  But  my  will 
over  you,  my  people,  and  your  privileges,  will  con 
tinue,  for  I  have  hope  that  the  life  of  the  land  will  be 
restored  when  my  conduct  is  justified." 

When  one  becomes  familiarized  with  this  term,  there 
is  no  word  that  can  be  thought  of  half  so  expressive  to 
denote  one's  extremity  and  strait ;  and  hence  you  will 
hear  it  used  in  conversation  by  missionaries  in  the 
midst  of  their  English,  as  if  it  were  legalized  old  Sax 
on.  The  same  is  true  of  the  word  cikamai,  expert,  skil 
ful,  ready  at  any  thing. 

The  compound  word  for  hope  is  beautifully  expres 
sive  :  it  is  manaolana,  or  the  swimming  thought — faith 
floating  and  keeping  its  head  aloft,  above  water,  when 
all  the  waves  and  billows  are  going  over  one — a  strik 
ingly  beautiful  definition  of  hope,  worthy  to  be  set 
down  along  with  the  answer  which  a  deaf  and  dumb 
person  wrote  with  his  pencil,  in  reply -to  the  question, 
"What  was  his  idea  of  forgiveness  ?  "  It  is  the  odor 
which  flowers  yield  when  trampled  on." 

At  a  convocation  of  teachers  held  at  this  place,  to 
consider  their  disabilities,  and  petition  government  for 


92  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

a  redress  of  grievances,  I  have  been  highly  pleased 
with  the  solicitude  which  some  of  them  have  mani 
fested  to  maintain  the  purity  of  their  Hawaiian  tongue. 
They  were  over  ninety  in  all,  a  respectable,  orderly 
body,  having  their  President  and  Secretaries,  and  dis 
posing  of  all  questions  in  due  form  and  order. 

One  of  the  subjects  first  discussed  was  the  name  by 
which  they  should  call  their  meeting,  as  it  was  a  new 
thing  under  the  sun  for  Hawaiians.  It  was  proposed 
to  adopt,  so  far  as  they  could,  the  English  word 
Society,  and  call  the  convention  The  Teachers'  Society, 
Sokieke  o  na  Kumu. 

To  this  some  of  them  resolutely  objected,  just  as  we 
may  imagine  Cicero  or  Pericles  would  to  an  unauthor 
ized  innovation  upon  the  classic  Latin  or  Greek,  that 
their  language  was  getting  barbarous  /  that  foreigners 
were  corrupting  and  running  away  with  it /  and  that, 
if  they  did  not  take  care,  it  would  soon  become  a  mon 
grel,  and  they  should  not  know  their  own  tongue. 

At  length,  with  the  help  of  their  minister,  they  hit 
upon  a  vernacular  compound  that  met  the  case,  and 
they  called  the  assembly  ATiahui,  or  The  United  Com 
pany. 

I  cannot  but  venture  to  suggest  here,  that  a  well-se 
lected  book  of  the  test  fables  extant  would  be  a  great 
boon  to  the  Hawaiian  Nation  in  the  present  stage  of  its 
progress.  It  could  not  but  interest  and  quicken  the 
minds  both  of  youth  and  adults  ;  and  a  Eeading  Book 
might  be  made  of  them  of  singular  utility  and  attract 
iveness,  that  would  constitute  a  mine  of  wealth.  Ha- 


A  BOOK  OF  FABLES  SUGGESTED.  93 

waiians  are  now  familiar  with  almost  all  the  animals 
that  afford  subjects  of  fable — the  ass,  the  dog,  the  horse, 
goat,  sheep,  cattle,  and  swine ;  besides  cats,  rats,  and 
mice,  (those  prolific  fable-breeders,)  domestic  fowls,  and 
birds. 

It  is  remarked  by  Isaac  Taylor,  in  his  admirable 
work  entitled  "  Home  Education,"  that  the  distinctive 
characteristics  of  animals  bear  such  an  analogy  to  the 
varieties  of  human  character,  as  has  in  all  ages  sug 
gested  the  mythic  form  of  instruction,  and  such  as  im 
parts  to  fable  a  degree  of  fixedness,  or,  one  might  say, 
authenticity,  which  hardly  admits  of  its  being  dis 
turbed. 

The  relative  dispositions  and  habits  of  the  bee  and 
the  wasp,  the  dog,  the  wolf,  and  the  fox,  and  the  moral 
picturesqueness  of  temper  which  we  attribute  to  the 
ass,  the  magpie,  the  parrot,  the  viper,  the  owl,  the 
jackal,  the  ape,  are  such  as  force  themselves  upon  our 
notice  as  samples  of  humanity  in  caricature. 

The  first  stirring  of  intellectuality  in  a  people,  as  they 
emerge  from  barbarism,  shows  itself  by  catching  at 
these  same  analogies  ;  and  what  is  true  of  a  nation  in 
its  infancy,  is  true  of  childhood  itself;  for  the  mind  no 
sooner  opens  than  it  seizes  upon  these  very  resemblan 
ces,  and  nourishes  itself  with  them. 

"  The  usage  of  employing  the  Esopian  fable  in  the 
conveyance  of  language,  must  be  considered  as  well 
adapted  for  securing  several  ends  ;  inasmuch  as,  while 
it  affords  a  sparkling  entertainment,  it  brings  together 
almost  exclusively  the  descriptive  portion  of  language, 


94:  LIFE   IN   THE    SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

an  early  familiarity  with  which  is  in  itself  highly  im 
portant." 

Backed  by  such  authority,  I  cannot  but  commend 
the  preparation  of  a  collection  of  fables  like  that  here 
indicated,  to  the  hard-working  Professors  of  Lahaina- 
luna  and  Wailuku,  and  to  the  literature-founders  of 
newly  civilized  nations  generally.  It  would  be  giving 
to  the  people  a  grant  of  ideas,  resources  for  the  imagi 
nation,  and  a  fund  of  mental  activity,  not  soon  to  be 
exhausted ;  and  it  would  materially  aid  the  hitherto 
necessarily  slow  process  of  intellectualizing  and  Chris 
tianizing  barbarous  tribes. 

"We  find  the  church  at  Wailuku  to  include  eleven 
hundred  and  thirty-four  members,  under  the  pastoral 
care  of  Rev.  E.  "W.  Clark.  The  riding  abroad  necessary 
in  performing  the  duties  of  a  pastor,  and  change  of  cli 
mate,  have  proved  partially  restorative  to  his  health, 
which  had  been  much  impaired  by  his  severe  sedentary 
labors  in  the  Mission  Seminary  at  Lahainaluna.  Al 
though  far  from  being  robust  and  strong,  he  is  able 
now  to  execute  the  round  of  a  missionary's  work,  in 
which,  like  all  other  business,  it  is  happily  true  in 
practice, 

"  That  use  doth  breed  a  habit  in  a  man," 

and  render  it  comparatively  easy. 

His  church,  self-moved,  has  just  taken  a  stand,  and 
adopted  a  series  of  resolutions  for  the  independent  sup 
port  of  the  Gospel  ministry  among  them,  that  must  be 


SPONTANEOUS    RESOLVES   OF   A   NATIVE   CHURCH.         95 

highly  agreeable  to  the  feelings  of  a  Pastor,  as  indica 
ting  a  manly  mind  and  Christian  spirit  on  the  part  of 
the  people. 

The  movement  augurs  well.  It  is  an  omen  of  geod 
that  may  justly  encourage  the  American  Board  and  its 
patron  churches.  It  has  led  the  way  to  the'  independ 
ent  support  of  the  Gospel  ministry  at  the  Hawaiian 
Islands.  The  following  is  a  translated  copy,  furnished 
me  by  the  Pastor,  of  resolutions  adopted  at  a  full  meet 
ing  of  the  church  called  on  the  previous  sacramental 
Sabbath  : 

RESOLUTIONS  adopted  by  the  church  included  in  the  territory 

from  Waihee  to  Kahikinui : 

% 

I.  That  we  decline  the  support  received  by  Mr.  Clark  from  the 
Missionary  Society  of  America,  and  that  this  church  of  Wailuku 
unite  together  to  supply  all  his  wants  in  this  thing  and  that  thing, 
which  he  needs  for  his  support. 

II.  That  his  support  from  America  be  sent  to  those  places  where 
the  name  of  the  Saviour  has  not  been  heard. 

III.  That  certain  persons  be  appointed  to  stir  up  the   people 
to  this  work,  and  that  the  collections  be  made  four  times  in  a 
year. 

IV.  That  collectors  be  appointed  in  different  parts  of  the  dis 
trict,  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  take  care  of  the  property  contributed 
by  the  church. 

V.  That  the  contributions  at  the  monthly  concert,  and  contribu 
tions  for  other  definite  objects,  be  kept  distinct  from  what  is  con 
tributed  for  the  support  of  the  pastor. 

VI.  That  the  names  of  all  who  assent  to  this  proposition  be  at 
tached  to  this  engagement  entered  into  by  this  church,  and  that  it 
be  the  duty  of  the  collectors  to  take  down  the  names. 

VII.  In  this  manner  shall  each  one  give  according  to  his  abil- 


96  LIFE    IN    THE    SANDWICH    ISLANDS. 

ity — some  one  dollar,  some  fifty  cents,  some  twenty-five  cents, 
some  twelve  and  a  half  cents,  some  six  cents — according  as 
each  one  receives,  from  the  highest  to  the  lowest,  so  shall  he 
give., 

VIII.  To  carry  out  these  resolutions  is  the  great  thing ;  for  it  is 
an  important  work,  and  a  work  by  which  both  our  country  and  our 
selves  will  be  benefited. 

IX.  That  this  church  engage,  if  they  are  out  on  a  journey  on 
Saturday,  that  they  will  not  travel  on  the  Sabbath,  but  remain  and 
keep  the  Lord's  day. 

It  is  natural  to  mention  in  the  same  connection  the 
recent  instance  of  a  man  (not  a  church  member)  who 
had  been  early  taught  at  Lahainaluna,  and  had  be 
come,  through  his  knowledge  and  skill  there  acquired, 
a  man  of  wealth  and  standing.  He  brought  lately  to 
Mr.  Clark  a  present  of  four  dollars,  saying  it  was  a 
mea  alolia,  (a  thing  of  love  ;)  that  it  was  to  his  instruc 
tions  he  owed  his  property  and  place,  and  that  he  was 
going  to  make  such  a  present  to  Mr.  Andrews  also,  the 
first  teacher  in  the  Seminary,  but  now  disconnected 
with  it  and  the  American  Board. 

You  hear  it  often  said  that  there  is  little  or  no  grati 
tude  in  the  Hawaiian  mind,  and  they  have  even  no 
word  in  their  language  to  give  thanks  by.  Be  this  as 
it  may,  there  are  few,  I  think,  who  would  not  agree,  in 
this  particular  instance,  that  this  man,  at  least,  possess 
ed  both  a  sense  of  obligation  and  the  feeling  of  grate 
fulness,  which  it  would  be  pleasing  often  to  see  evinced 
as  substantially  by  men  in  other  lands,  that  have  a 
better -name  for  refinement  than  his,  and  where  the 


SUCCESSFUL   EXPERIMENT    OF   ME.    GREEN.  97 

institutions  of  Christianity  are  of  older  date  than 
here. 

A  great  stimulus  to  this  action  of  the  Wailuku  church 
undoubtedly  is  the  example  of  a  neighboring  church 
at  Makawao,  where  Mr.  Green  retired  after  leaving 
the  American  Board,  organized  a  church,  and  was 
settled  as  its  pastor,  .on  a  promise  of  being  sup 
ported. 

He  told  them  before  he  went  that  they  must  raise 
wheat  for  his  breadstuff,  and  immediately  they  began 
-in  a  district  called  Kula,  and  have  succeeded  in  fur 
nishing  the  best  bread  eaten  at  these  Islands.  He 
tells  his  lunas,  persons  appointed  for  this  purpose, 
when  he  wants  any  thing,  and  forthwith  they  do  all 
the  paipaiing  (stirring  up)  among  the  people,  and  it 
comes. 

They  also  supply  his  domestics  with  food,  haul  all 
his  wood  and  timber,  have  put  up  the  adobe  dwelling 
he  now  lives  in,  arid  are  making  ready  to  build  a  good 
stone  or  wattled  house. 

The  pastor  of  Makawao  received  from  his  people  on 
January  4th,  1851,  five  hundred  and  thirty  dollars  in 
money,  as  their  free-will  offerings  to  aid  him  in'  the 
support  of  himself  and  his  family.  In  addition,  they 
paid  about  forty  dollars  to  a  licensed  native  preacher  of 
the  Gospel,  who  has  been  laboring  among  them.  They 
have  also  paid,  during  the  year  1850,  eight  hundred 
dollars  in  money  towards  the  erection  of  a  house  for 
public  worship,  and  more  than  one  hundred  'and  fifty 
dollars  for  other  than  domestic  objects.  Andvthey 

5 


98  LIFE    IN    THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

have  promptly  furnished  their  pastor  with  such  com 
forts  for  his  table  as  their  fields  afford. 

The  so  far  successful  experiment  he  is  making  in  a 
place  by  no  means  the  most  favorable  for  it,  will  go  far 
to  convince  the  native  churches  and  the  mission  that 
missionaries  can  be  supported  on  the  spot,  not  only 
without  impoverishing,  but  to  the  actual  enriching  of 
the  people,  by  the  efforts  it  demands,  and  the  produc 
tive  energy  it  constrains  them  to  put  forth.  It  is  as 
true  here  as  anywhere,  that  the  liberal  soul  is  made 
fat,  and  Tie  that  watereth  is  watered  also  himself. 
There  is  that  giveth  and  yet  increaseth.  There  is  that 
withholdeth  more  than  is  meet,  and  it  tendeth  to  pov 
erty.  Giving  here,  no  more  than  in  America,  does  not 
impoverish  ;  withholding  doth  not  enrich. 

The  churches  at  Wailuku  and  Makawao  are  begin 
ning  to  find  it  out.  The  more  they  give,  the  more 
(say  they)  they  have.  It  wras  not  a  little  amusing,  as 
well  as  affecting,  to  hear  them  sagely  debate  and  ex 
press  their  minds,  at  the  meeting  in  which  this  church 
unanimously  resolved  to  support  their  teacher. 

Various  and  interesting  were  the  reasons  given  for 
so  doing.  One  old  man,  bronzed  with  the  tropical  suns 
of  sixty  summers,  said,  with  a  native  eloquence  and 
emphasis  not  to  be  forgotten,  that  once  his  dollars  and 
hapahas  used  to  go  for  tobacco  and  his  sins,  and  it  was 
all  polio,  that  is,  sunk ;  and  now  it  was  a  small  thing  to 
give  them  for  the  support  of  the  Gospel,  by  which  he 
had  been  led  to  leave  off  his  sins. 

Another  said  they  were  once  thieves  and  murderers, 


AFFECTING   INSTANCES   OF   LIBERALITY.  99 

* 

and  their  property  and  lives  were  insecure ;  and  now 
it  was  but  fair  to  give  for  the  Gospel,  by  which  it  was 
that  they  had  made  their  property,  and  were  able  also 
to  keep  it,  and  were  so  much  better  off  than  they  used 
to  be. 

Another  said,  if  they  supported  their  own  teacher, 
he  would  be  theirs.  Now  they  had  had  Mr.  Green, 
and  he  had  gone ;  Mr.  Armstrong,  and  he  had  gone ; 
and  their  tears  had  fallen,  but  they  had  murmured  and 
wept  in  vain.  But  if  they  themselves  should  pay  their 
teacher,  he  would  be  theirs  /  they  should  Tioopaa  him, 
that  is,  make  him  fast. 

Another  said  that  in  this  thing  they  must  not  prom 
ise  and  then  not  perform,  but  whatever  they  said  they 
would  give  they  must  give.  That  he  himself  was  hewa 
(that  is,  wrong)  in  this  matter;  he  had  sometimes  prom 
ised  what  he  had  not  yet  performed.  Then,  after  meet 
ing  was  over,  he  came  to  Mr.  Clark  with  three  dollars, 
saying  it  was  a  part  of  five  which  he  had  promised  a 
good  while  ago  to  the  American  Bible  Company,  for 
printing  the  Hawaiian  Bible,  of  which  he  was  so  glad 
to  have  a  copy. 

Any  benevolent  patron  of  Missions,  to  have  been 
there  and  heard  them  debate,  and  to  have  witnessed 
the  evidence  of  their  sincerity,  would  have  thanked 
God  from  his  inmost  soul  for  having  ever  been  able,  or 
induced,  to  give  to  carry  the  Gospel  where  it  had  pro 
duced  such  benign  results.  And  he  would  have  said, 
Let  me  deny  myself  in  order  to  give  this  blessed  Gos 
pel  to  all  the  world ;  for  this  same  Gospel,  if  applied 


100  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   INLANDS, 

* i _ 

to  all  the  world  as  at  the  Sandwich  Islands,  would, 
there  is  every  reason  to  believe,  produce  the  same  re 
sults — results  that  have  all  been  secured  within  less 
than  thirty  years  since  missionaries  were  first  planted 
there  among  a  race  of  indescribably  depraved  and  de 
based  heathen. 

After  this  action  on  the  part  of  the  church  at  "Wai- 
luku,  a  committee  of  missionaries,  on  the  subject  of 
the  support  of  pastors  by  their  people,  reported  to  the 
General  Meeting  convened  at  Oahu  as  follows  : 

1.  That  we  regard  the  subject  one  of  great  importance  to  the 
prosperity  of  Christian  institutions  in  these  Islands ;  and  that  it  is 
peculiarly  gratifying  to  learn  that  some  churches  and  congregations 
have  resolved  to  make  the  attempt  to  support  their  pastors,  and  are 
actually  taking  measures  to  effect  the  object. 

2.  That,  considering  the  increase  of  means,  and  the  advance 
ment  of  correct  principles  among  the  people,  we  believe  the  time 
has  come  when  several  of  the  more  able  congregations  might  be 
induced  to  support  their  pastors  wholly,  and  many  others  might  do 
it  in  part ;   and  we  believe  the  present  is  a  peculiarly  favorable 
time  to  present  this  subject  to  our  several  congregations,  inasmuch 
as  there  is  already,  in  many  intelligent  natives,  an  interest  awaken 
ed  to  this  subject. 

3.  That  every  pastor  take  great  pains  to  instruct  his  people,  and 
especially  the  church  members,  in  the  right  use  of  money;    to 
teach  them  to  curtail  all  useless  superfluities,  such  expenses  as  are 
incurred  merely  for  show  and  ornament;  and  to  induce  them  to 
appropriate  their  means  to  useful  objects  only,  such  as  will  secure 
to  them  all  the  advantages  and  comforts  of  complete  civilization, 
and  especially  to  sustain  among  themselves  all  the  institutions  of 
the  Gospel,  as  the  foundation  upon  which  their  temporal  and  eter 
nal  welfare  must  depend. 


STEPS   TOWARDS    INDEPENDENCY.  101 

4.  In  order  to  bring  this  subject  in  the  most  advantageous  man 
ner  before  the  congregations  which  are  able  to  support  their  pas 
tors,  in  whole  or  in  part,  we  recommend  that  the  pastor,  together 
with  such  two  members  of  the  mission,  and  perhaps  such  influen 
tial  native  Christians  "as  he  may  call  to  his  aid,  be  a  committee  to 
present  this  subject  before  the  people,  and,  in  concert  with  them,  to 
devise  such  practical  and  efficient  measures  as  will  secure  the  ob 
ject  ;  and  we  recommend  further,  that  these  efforts  be  made  as 
soon  as  practicable  after  the  close  of  the  present  General 
Meeting. 

These  initiatory  steps,  beginning,  it  will  be  noticed, 
with  the  people  tinder  the  training  of  missionaries, 
have  resulted,  in  the  year  1849,  in  an  offer  and  ac 
ceptance,  on  the  part  of  the  Sandwich  Islands  Mission, 
of  a  proposition  of  independency  from  the  American 
Board. 

The  fiftieth  year  of  the  nineteenth  century  closes 
auspiciously  with  the  grand  experiment  of  a  self-sup 
porting  Mission  in  the  Heart  of  the  Pacific  suc 
cessfully  under  way.  Who  of  our  readers  does  not 
earnestly  implore  for  it  the  blessing  of  the  Almighty 
Lord  God,  whose  providences  have  been  so  marked 
and  many  towards  that  infant  Christendom,  the  founda 
tions  of  which  have  been  thus  gloriously  laid  ? 


102  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 


CHAPTER  V. 

A   GLANCE   AT  THE    PROVINCE  AND    RESULT    OF    MISSIONS    IN    THE 
HEART    OF    THE     PACIFIC,    AND    A    VISIT    TO     THE     PALACE    OF 

THE    SUN. 

I  WATCH  with  throbbing  heart  the  zeal, 

Whose  all-incorporating  plan 
Can  teach  a  million  souls  to  feel 

For  all  that's  man — for  all  that's  man ! 
And  every  human  title  blend 
In  those  of  Brother  and  of  Friend. 

BOWRING. 

A  passing  tribute  to  the  true  modern  apostles—Character  of  Protestant  civilization- 
Theory  and  practice  at  Wailuku  —  History  and  progress  of  the  Female  Sem 
inary —  Province  of  woman  in  the  work  of  civilization  —  How  fulfilled  —  Exam 
ination  of  schools  —  Hawaiian  girls  —  Trip  to  the  crater  of  Hale-a-ka-la  —  We 
reach  the  brim — Novel  scene  opened  at  the  top — Spectacle  of  grandeur  and  glory 
;  presented  by  the  clouds — A  play-ground  for  the  youth  of  heaven — Feelings  belong 
ing  to  such  a  position — Man's  nothingness  and  the  Creator's  glory — Rhapsody  of 
Rowland  Hill—Luther's  view  of  the  majestic  vault  of  God— Lesson  we  learned 
from  the  lofty  look-out  of  Hale-a-ka-la— A  sight  from  the  clifts  of  eternity— Mont 
gomery's  imprecation — We  are  let  down  safely — We  pass  to  the  sugar-making  on 
East  Maui — Farming  lands — Horseback  route  through  Haiku — Sand-hills  and  an 
cient  Golgotha — Reflections  on  a  skull — Evidence  of  former  culture  and  dense  pop 
ulation — Present  record  of  deaths  and  births — Mortality  of  the  year  1848  by  measles 
— Culture  of  rice  by  Chinamen — Fine  appearance  of  the  garden  and  terraces  of 
Waiiuku — Entertainment  at  the  Seminary — Sports  with  the  children. 

WITHOUT  being  of  the  craft, — an  honor  which  provi 
dences  have  forbidden, — we  freely  confess  to  what  may 
already  have  been  discovered  in  these  pages,  namely, 
to  an  unfeigned  love  and  respect  for  foreign  missiona 
ries.  Well  knowing  whereof  we  affirm,  we  hold  them 
worthy  of  all  honor.  They  are  Civilization's  pioneers 


THE 'TRUE   WORKING   SOCIALISTS.  103 

and  explorers,  as  well  as  the  tamers  of  mankind  and 
preachers  of  the  Grospel. 

It  is  of  them  that  Tacitus  might  have  said  most 
truly,  Emolliunt  mores,  nee  sinunt  esse  feros — They 
soften  and  improve  both  the  manners  and  the  morals 
of  men,  and  forbid  their  living  like  beasts.  They  are 
Humanity's  best  teachers;  Freedom's  truest  cham 
pions  ;  Labor's  ablest  lifters ;  Society's  real  equalizers, 
and  the  clearest  expounders  of  the  rights  of  man. 
They  are,  indeed,  the  only  true  Apostles  of  Liberty, 
Fraternity,  Equality — the  world's  working  Socialists. 
They  are  the  heralds  and  advance-guard  of  Agriculture, 
Science,  and  Art,  and  of  all  true  social  reformation,  as 
well  as  of  virtue  and  religion. 

In  their*  relations  to  barbarous  tribes,  and  to  the 
wide  world  of  suffering  humanity,  they  alone  do  truly, 
blend  in  one  the  Christianizer,  Civilizer,  Benefactor, 
Brother,  Friend.  They  act  in  the  spirit  of  John  Hamp- 
den's  motto,  Null  a  vestigia  retrorsum — No  steps  back 
ward. 

A  practical  demonstration  of  this  is  now  seen  at 
Wailuku ;  and  it  is  pleasant  to  be  able  to  testify  of  a 
station  which,  up  to  1850,  has  enjoyed  the  labors  of 
resident  missionaries  for  eighteen  years,  that  the  people 
seem  to  be  better  clad,  better  housed,  and  to  live  better 
than  at  any  other  part  of  this  Heart  of  the  Pacific  yet 
visited.  Three  special  reasons  may  be  assigned  for  it : 
First,  The  region  is  a  fruitful  one,  supplying  kalo  and 
potatoes  in  abundance,  and  furnishing  pasturage  for 
herds,  in  which  natives  begin  to  hold  property.  Sec- 


104  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

ond,  A  good  market  is  opened  for  their  products  at 
Lahaina,  within  thirty  miles,  at  which  they  can  obtain 
cloth.  Third,  Something  has  been  done  in  the  way  of 
agriculture  and  internal  improvements  by  the  mission 
aries. 

The  station  was  first  taken  by  the  Eev.  J.  S.  Green, 
with  whom  was  afterwards  associated  the  Rev.  Rich 
ard  Armstrong,  both  laborious  and  practical  men. 
Much  benefit  has  also  been  derived  here  from  the  resi 
dence  and  labors  of  the  blind  preacher,  Bartimeus, 
the  first  convert  to  Christianity  at  these  Islands.  He 
died,  beloved  and  lamented,  in  September,  1844:.  But 
his  works  do  follow  him,  and  shall  be  had  in  ever 
lasting  remembrance.  A  little  memoir  of  this  good 
man  has  been  published,  and  a  larger  work  on  his  Life 
.and  Times  is  said  to  be  in  preparation  by  the  first  pas 
tor  of  the  Wailuku  church. 

The  influence  of  the  Female  Seminary  located  here 
has  undoubtedly  also  been  great  and  salutary.  It  was 
commenced  by  Mr.  Green,  in  1837,  by  the  erection  of 
a  substantial  stone  building,  fifty-six  feet  long  by  twenty- 
four  wide,  and  two  stories  high.  Thirty  pupils  were 
admitted  that  year,  and  a,n  excellent  female  teacher 
associated  in  the  instruction  and  care  of  them,  who  con 
tinues  to  occupy  a  post  of  so  much  usefulness.  In  1840, 
the  charge  of  the  school  was  given  to  Mr.  Bailey,  which 
he  still  retains.  The  largest  number  of  pupils  at  any 
one  time  has  been  seventy.  The  present  number  is 
fifty-two. 

Besides  the  stone  building  first  erected,  there  are 


DISCIPLINE    OF   THE   FEMALE   SEMINARY.  105 

now  a  fine  Chapel  forty  feet  long,  furnished  with  desks, 
seats,  and  school  apparatus  ;  two  neat  lecture  and  reci 
tation  rooms,  floored,  painted,  and  whitewashed ;  two 
ranges  of  adobe  buildings  for  dormitories,  one  hundred 
and  twenty  feet  long,  in  front  and  rear  of  the  chapel ; 
thirty  acres  of  land  inclosed  and  under  cultivation  by 
a  native  farmer  attached  to  the  institution,  and  eight 
native  laborers.  .  - 

The  time  of  the  pupils  is  employed  as  follows  :  one 
hour  from  early  rising  in  the  garden,  then  prayers  and 
breakfast,  recreations  and  miscellaneous  work  till  nine ; 
then  two  hours  with  Miss  Ogden  in  spinning,  knitting, 
and  sewing ;  bathing,  relaxation,  and  dinner,  till  two ; 
then  two  hours  of  recitation  and  study  with  Mr.  Bailey, 
followed  by  an  hour's  work  in  the  garden ;  supper 
between  five  and  six ;  evening  prayers  at  half  past 
seven ;  hours  of  retiring  eight  and  nine,  according  to 
their  ages. 

More  time  was  at  first  spent  within  doors  and  in 
study.  But  it  was  found  detrimental  to  health,  an-d 
that  the  Hawaiian  constitution,  used  to  indolence,  free 
dom,  and  sunshine,  could  not  bear  much  confinement 
without  giving  way.  "Weekly  excursions  are  now  taken 
with  their  teacher  to  the  mountain  or  sea-shore,  and 
care  is  used  to  keep  them  much  in  the  open  air.  The 
health  of  the  school  is  consequently  ^better,  and  they* 
form  a  company  of  hearty,  happy  girls,  as  fond  of  a 
romp  and  ball-playing,  and  as  glad  to  be  noticed,  as 
ever  boarding-school  girls  are  in  America. 

Five  of  them  are  members  of  the  church,  and  sev- 
5* 


106  LIFE   IN    THE    SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

eral  others  are  hopefully  pious.  Ten  or  twelve  having 
finished  their  course,  have  been  married  to  graduates 
from  Lahainaluna,  and  others  are  held  in  reserve  for 
the  same  market. 

The  design  of  the  female  seminary,  says  Mr.  Dibble, 
is  to  take  a  class  of  young  females  into  a  boarding- 
school,  away,  in  a  measure,  from  the  contaminating  in 
fluences  of  heathen  society,  to  train  tJiem  to  habits  of 
industry,  neatness,  and  order,  to  instruct  them  in  em 
ployments  suited  to  their  sex,  to  cultivate  their  minds, 
to  improve  their  manners,  and  to  instil  the  principles 
of  religion  ;  to  fit  them  to  be  suitable  companions  for 
the  scholars  of  the  Mission  Seminary,  and  examples 
of  propriety  among  the  females  of  the  Sandwich  Isl 
ands. 

The  short  time  in  which  the  institution  has  been  in 
operation  hardly  authorizes  a  judgment,  as  to  how  far 
these  ends  have  been  answered.  But  no  one  wrho  ex 
amines  it,  and  sees  its  practical  working,  can  fail  of  the 
conviction  that  female  family  boarding-schools  must 
form  a  very  important  instrumentality  in  the  work  of 
elevating  this  nation. 

The  women  remaining  as  they  now  are,  men,  what 
ever  pains  may  be  bestowed  on  them,  can  get  but  little 
higher ;  while  with  every  single  degree  of  woman's  as 
cent  in  the  scale  ,gf  civilization  and  goodness,  you  raise 
man  two.  The  two  lessons  of  chief  importance  for 
Hawaiian  women  ^to  learn,  are  modesty  and  industry. 
Induce  these,  and  every  thing  is  gained — the  end  of 
female  education  at  present  answered.  But  a  train- 


WOMEN   AS   THEY   ARE   AND   SHOULD   BE.  107 

ing  that  does  not  accomplish  this,  fails  entirely,  how 
much  soever  knowledge  may  be  communicated,  or  art 
learned. 

Let  an  Hawaiian  female  be  only  modest  and  indus 
trious,  and  she  will  make  a  neat  and  prudent  wife, 
and  a  better  mother  than  ever  Hawaiian  boy  has  had 
yet.  Many  such,  we  cannot  but  hope,  will  be  made 
under  the  management  of  the  teachers  of  this  insti 
tution.  May  God  give  them  wisdom  and  skill,  and 
permit  them  to  see  all,  on  whom  they  have  bestowed 
pains,  examples  of  womanly  propriety  to  the  females 
of  Hawaii-nei ! 

It  is  impossible  to  see  them  going  in  a  body  to  the 
sanctuary,  uniformly  apparelled,  sitting  orderly  by 
themselves,  attending,  many  of  them,  diligently  to  ser 
mons,  that  they  may  sustain  an  examination  on  them, 
and  looked  upon  with  regard  and  interest  by  the  rest 
of  the  congregation,  without  being  convinced  that  the 
indirect  influence  of  the  institution  is  beneficial  and 
great.  Perhaps  it  is  to  be  attributed  to  this,  that  the 
common  schools  in  this  district  are  reported  the 
present  year  more  favorably  of,  and  as  in  a  better 
state  than  in  any  other  field  from  which  a  report  is 
made. 

There  are  twenty-five  schools,  and  eight  hundred 
and  eight  scholars.  I  have  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing 
them  collected  at  three  or  four  different  points  for  a 
quarterly  examination  by  the  pastor,  and  fcaku-Jcula, 
(school  superintendent.)  They  are  dressed  at  such 
times  in  their  best  "  bib  and  tucker,"  which,  with  the 


108  LIFE  IN   THE   SANDWICH    ISLANDS. 

boys,  is  a  shirt  and  pantaloons,  with  perhaps  a  cotton 
handkerchief  over  their  shoulders  for  a  Jdhei ;  with 
the  girls,  their  mother's,  or  some  makamakcfs,  best 
robe  and  feather,  lei,  (wreath,)  and  any  thing  for  a  Icihei 
they  can  muster,  either  a  nice  white  Jcapa,  or  a  breadth 
of  silk,  or  something  figured. 

The  prettiest  thing  of  all  is  their  flower-wreaths,  es 
pecially  those  made  of  the  yellow  ilima.  They  string 
the  blossoms  on  a  stem  of  grass  with  much  taste  and 
skill,  and  no  little  patience.  "With  these  the  girls 
wreathe  their  heads  sometimes  like  a  turban,  and  hang 
them  round  their  necks,  which,  though  they  be  red- 
skinned,  are  sometimes  erect  and  beautiful  as  that  fa 
mous  one  of  Mary  Queen  of  Scots. 

I  like  the  Hawaiians  for  their  fondness  for  flowers, 
or,  rather,  for  decorating  their  persons  with  them.  It 
is  a  pity  a  custom  so  innocent  in  itself  should  ever 
have  to  be  discountenanced  by  their  religious  teachers. 
Some  have  thought  it  necessary  to  do  so,  because 
wearing  of  leis  has  been  abused  to  purposes  of  vanity, 
and  meretricious  allurement  and  display.  We  can 
hardly  believe,  however,  that  much  harm  can  ensue 
from  putting  flowers  or  feathers  to  such  a  use,  while 
the  taste  is  brought  thereby  into  pleasurable  exercise, 
and  so  far  certainly  is  good. 

And  while  the  bonnets  of  foreign  ladies,  now  and  then, 
perhaps,  of  missionaries,  are  seen  fluttering  with  gay  rib 
bons  and  plumes,  it  is  hardly  fair  to  put  a  tabu  on  birds' 
feathers  and  wild-flowers  for  the  heads  of  Hawaiian 
women.  There  are  ways  of  wearing  them  which,  it  is 


THE   LESSONS   TAUGHT   BY    FLO  WEES.  109 

said,  have  a  vicious  meaning,  for  which  church  mem 
bers  have  been  sometimes  disciplined  ;  with  how  much 
propriety,  the  good  men  that  have  done  it,  and  who 
may  be  supposed  to  know  most  of  native  customs  and 
character,  are  the  -best  judges.  Poor  human  nature  is 
wont  to  abuse  to  its  injury  almost  every  thing,  wheth 
er  evil  or  good.  But  I  think  the  tempter  must  be 
brought  to  an  unusual  pinch  before  he  would  have 
recourse  to  so  innocent  and  sweet  a  thing  as  flowers, 
whereby  to  teach  men  how  to  tempt  and  vitiate  one 
another. 

One  whom  I  greatly  honor  and  love  says,  though  not 
for  the  world's  eye,  that 

Flowers  are  books — the  sweetest  leaves 
That  Nature's  wisdom  ever  weaves  : 
And  wise  and  gentle  hearts  we  need, 
Their  deep  and  varied  lore  to  read. 
Some  melancholy  lessons,  too, 
We  would  not  have  them  hide  from  view. 

And  it  was  the  queen  of  English  female  poets  that  sang 
of  the  flowers,— 

Bring  flowers,  fresh  flowers,  for  the  bride  to  wear  ! 
They  were  born  to  blush  in  her  shining  hair. 
She  is  leaving  the  home  of  her  childhood's  mirth, 
She  hath  bid  farewell  to  her  father's  hearth : 
Her  place  is  now  by  another's  side, — 
Bring  flowers  for  the  locks  of  the  fair  young  bride  ! 

But  farewell  for  a  while  to  flowers,  and  to  the  maid 
ens  that  wear  them,  for  we  are  on  a  horseback  excur- 
of  thirty-five  miles  from  Wailuku  to  the  top  of 


110  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

Hale-a-ka-la,  The  House  of  the  Sun.  We  mak£  up  our 
party  at  Rev.  Mr.  Green's,  who  resides  two  thousand 
feet  up  the  gentle  declivity  of  the  mountain.  From 
his  house,  at  five  in  the  morning,  we  start  for  the  sum 
mit  of  the  extinct  volcano,  eight  of  us  in  all  mounted, 
and  one  native  on  foot. 

To  within  five  miles  of  the  top,  as  far  as  an  old  bul 
lock-pen,  into  which  the  Spaniards  used  to  chase  wild 
cattle,  the  path  is  distinct  and  quite  good,  and  the  as 
cent  not  steep.  Thence  it  is  very  rugged  and  stony 
without  any  legible  track. 

Hills  peep  o'er  hills, 
And  Alps  o'er  Alps  arise, 

as  we  advance  ;  and  when  we  think  we  see  and  shall  * 
soon  reach  the  last,  lo !  there  runs  up  before  us  another 
ridge-like  wall,  equally  distant  and  high. 

At  length,  by  half  past  ten,  we  reach  the  crater's 
brim,  and,  dismounting  from  our  tired  horses,  those  of 
us  who  have  been  able  to  urge  them  so  for,  advance 
to  the  edge,  and  there  suddenly  opens  upon  us  a 
deep,  wide  pit,  twenty-five  or  thirty  miles  in  circumfer 
ence,  and  two  or  three  thousand  feet  deep.  "We  count 
ed  in  it  fourteen  or  sixteen  basins  of  old  volcanoes,  vol 
cano  within  volcano,  as  a  wheel  within  a  wheel.  There 
are  also  two  vast  openings  jor  sluice-gates  in  the  lava 
walls,  one  on  the  northeast,  and  one  on  the  southeast, 
out  of  which  the  molten  lava  and  sand  once  poured 
down  to  the  sea. 

In  this  great  pit  a  man  would  be  dwarfed  to  the^ize 


SPECTACLE    OF    GLORY    FROM   THE   CRATER.  Ill 

of  an  infant ;  and  great  silver-sword  plants,  (ensis  a/r- 
gentea,}  as  large  as  a  half-bushel,  looked,  away  down 
on  the  sides  of  those  volcanic  cones,  like  little  white 
pebbles.  Its  walls  and  ramparts  are  as  huge  and  high, 
for  aught  I  know,  as  those  "  Hell-bounds"  in  our  great 
English  Epic,  that  kept  within  the  rebel  angels.  And 
if  a  man  should  once  get  down  there,  methinks  he 
would  look  up  oppressed,  and  feel  like  Sterne's  star 
ling,  "  I  can't  get  out." 

But  if  the  view  of  the  now  extinct  crater,  once  roll 
ing  its  fiery  surges,  and  vomiting  from  a  score  of 
mouths  its  igneous  bowels,  was  vast  and  strange,  a 
spectacle  of  far  more  grandeur  was  that  immediately 
presented,  as  we  looked  afar  over  the  crater  to  the 
northeast  and  west — a  spectacle  which  neither  the 
tongue,  nor  pen  of  angels  or  men,  could  ever  so  de 
scribe  as  to  give  to  any  mind  an  adequate  conception 
of  its  magnificence  and  glory. 

"  O,  'twas  an  unimaginable  sight ! 

Clouds,  mists,  streams,  watery  rocks,  and  emerald  turf, 
Clouds  of  all  tincture,  rocks,  and  sapphire  sky, 
Confused,  commingled,  mutually  inflamed, 
In  fleecy  folds  voluminous  enwrapped." 

"We  had  seen  for  a  long  time,  as  we  kept  ascending, 
the  clouds  gathering  and  rolling  up  beneath  us  at  a 
distance  of  four  thousand  feet ;  for,  owing  to  its  ratifi 
cation,  the  air  is  incapable  of  sustaining  clouds  beyond 
a  certain  height,  and  the  principal  masses  are  held  at 
*an  average  elevation  above  the  level  of  the  sea  of  five 
thousand  two  hundred  and  eighty  feet,  or  one  mile. 


112  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH    ISLANDS. 

~Now  we  turned  to  look  from  our  elevated  position  'of 
ten  thousand  feet,  and  behold !  one  vast  expanse,  like 
a  field  of  purest  new-fallen  snow,  which  the  wind  has 
rolled  in  drifts  and  ridges,  covering  all  the  mountain, 
plain,  and  sea,  and  reflecting  the  sunbeams  with  a  daz 
zling  splendor. 

i  Now  and  then  a  place  would  be  rent  or  excavated  in 
the  snowy  masses,  or  the  curtain  of  cloud  would  be 
lifted,  and  the  form  of  the  Island  of  Lanai  would  be 
visible  away  over  the  mountains  of  Lahaina,  six  thou 
sand  feet  high,  and  sometimes  apportion  of  the  bay  and 
shore  of  Wailuku,  whitened  by  the  noiseless  surf. 

Then  trending  off  to  the  horizon,  a  hundred  miles,  was 
the  blue  Pacific,  lifted  up  ten  thousand  feet  by  a  famil 
iar  optical  illusion,  to  a  plane  of  vision  as  high  as  the 
very  summit  of  Hale-a-ka-la ;  and  rising  out  of  it  was 
the  glorious  dome  of  Mauna  Loa,  on  the  great  Island 
of  Hawaii,  its  snow-capped  summit  flashing  in  the  sun 
like  a  bank  of  alabaster.  The  clouds,  and  their  shad 
ows  upon  other  clouds  far  beneath,  could  be  seen 
hovering  over  the  blue  abyss,  and  sometimes  they 
seemed  to  float  in  it  in  separate  masses  like  great  ice 
bergs. 

The  longer  one  looked*,  the  greater  grew  the  wonder 
and  glory.  What  with  the  vast  height,  the  pure,  rari- 
fied  air,  the  solemn  stillness  like  as  in  creation's  prime, 
the  absence  of  every  thing  human  and  artificial,  the 
smooth  envelope  of  vapor  in  which  every  thing  below 
was  hid,  it  was  as  if  we  were  looking  down  from* 
some  place  in  the  heavens  upon  the  bare  convex  of  the 


REACH   AND    GRANDEUR   OF   THE   PROSPECT.  113 

earth ;  and  one  of  our  party  remarked,  that  there 
was  constantly  in  his  mind  the  description  of  Milton's 
angel 

Alighting  on  the  firm,  opacous  globe 

Of  this  round  world,  whose  first  convex  divides 

The  luminous  inferior  orbs,  inclosed 

From  chaos  and  the  inroad  of  darkness  old. 

I  fairly  wanted  to  leap  down  into  the  soft '. 
clouds,  clear  as  chalcedony,  and  smooth  and 
the  breast  of  an  eider-duck ;  and  we  thought  the 
sight  might  tempt  the  flight  of  angels  from  the  battle 
ments  of  heaven,  to  sport  on  the  bosom  of  that  beauti 
ful  sea. 

The  extent  of  vision  on  each  of  three  sides  was  at 
least  two  hundred  miles.  To  the  west,  the  base  of  the 
mountain,  the  bay  and  plains  of  "Wailuku,  the  mount 
ains  of  West  Maui,  and  over  them  the  islands  of  Lanai 
and  Molokai,  as  if  suspended  in  the  sky,  and  the  great 
Pacific.  To  the  north,  the  vast  ocean  of  clouds  in  mid 
air,  and  of  sea  below.  To  the  south,  looking  across 
the  crater,  and  forty  miles  over  the  channel  between 
Maui  and  Hawaii,  could  be  seen,  within  an  opening  of 
the  clouds,  the  surf-whitened  shore  of  the  latter  isl 
and  ;  and  seventy  or  eighty  miles  further,  towering  up 
ia  majestic  grandeur  fourteen  thousand  feet  above  the 
ocean  of  clouds,  were  the  blue  summits  of  Mauna  Kea 
and  Mauna  Loa,  the  former  revealing  a  snow-bank  on 
its  top,  shining  like  the  battlements  of  heaven,  as  seen 
in  the  Apodalypse. 

The  view  this  side  had  a  reach  and  immensity  of 


LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 


distance  that  was  indescribably  grand.  It  forms  an 
impression,  and  fixes  an  image  in  the  mind,  that  re 
curs  and  visits  one  again  and  again,  with  all  the  viv 
idness  of  a  dream.* 

While  we  were  gazing  with  delight,  now  on  one  side, 
now  on  the  other,  vast  masses  of  vapor  began  to  roll 
into  the  crater  through  the  sluice-way  on  the  north,  but 
still  so  low,  that  we  were  between  two  and  three  thou 
sand  feet  above  it  In  descending,  we  were  more  than 
an  hour  before  arriving  at  the  cloudy  belt,  or  having 
the  sun  at  all  obscured. 


*  "We  find  it  said  very  justly,  and  from  a  real  experience  and  a 
true  poetic  insight,  by  a  writer  in  the  New  York  "  Independent,"  as 
follows : — One  who  stands  upon  the  summit  of  Mount  Washington, 
there  takes  in  an  idea  of  vastness,  sublimity,  and  power,  which  thence 
forth  is  incorporated  with  his  spiritual  being,  and  which  will  oft- 
times  dilate  his  soul  when  he  has  returned  to  the  common  level  of 
earth.  One  who  stands  at  the  base  of  Niagara,  or  peers  into  its 
abyss  from  the  overhanging  cliff,  receives  an  impression  of  the  grand, 
the  beautiful,  the  terrible,  which  thenceforth  lives  within  him,  and 
reproduces  itself  with  its  first  ecstasy  amid  all  the  changes  of  place 
and  time.  One  who  gazes  enraptured  upon  a  beautiful  picture, 
transfers  it  to  the  texture  of  his  mind,  and,  whoever  may  possess 
it,  he  carries  it  ever  with  him  as  his  own  treasure.  One  who  listens 
to  an  enchanting  strain  of  music,  thenceforth  feels  it  in  every  pulse 
of  his  soul.  One  Who  hears  an  eloquent  oration,  is  raised  by  it  to 
a  height  of  intellectual  enjoyment  to  which  he  oft  returns  in  aftei^ 
meditation.  And  though  these  impressions  cannot  be  conveyed  to 
others  in  words,  their  influence  is  shared  through  the  higher  tone  of 
power,  of  beauty,  of  love  in  him  who  has  experienced  them.  There 
is,  moreover,  a  peculiar  sympathy  between  those  who  have  received 
like  impressions,  which  attracts  them  to  each  other,  and  enables 
them  to  commune  together  in  that  mysterious  soul-language  which  has 
no  outward  exponent. 


EMOTIONS    KINDLED   BY    THE   SIGHT.  115 

The  feelings  of  a  man  the  first  time  he  gets  so  far 
above  the  limits  of  human  habitation  are  peculiar  and 
new.  One  wants  to  be  some  time  alone,  and  to  give 
himself  silently  up  to  the  sight,  in  order  to  multiply 
and  deepen  by  meditation  the  impressions  which  it  is 
fitted  to  produce. 

The  unfortunate  Scotch  naturalist,  Douglass,  who  was 
found  dead  in  a  bullock-trap  on  Hawaii,  describing  in 
one  of  his  letters  a  place  on  Hawaii  somewhat  similar 
to  Hale-a-ka-la,  very  justly  remarks,  that  "  were  the 
traveller  permitted  to  express  the  emotions  he  feels 
while  placed  on  such  an  astonishing  part  of  the  earth's 
surface,  cold  indeed  must  his  heart  be  to  the  great  op 
erations  of  nature,  and  still  colder  towards  nature's 
God,  by  whose  wisdom  and  power  such  wonderful 
scenes  were  created,  if  he  could  behold  them  without 
deep  humility,  mingled  with  reverential  awe.  Man 
feels  himself  as  nothing — as  if  standing  on  the  verge 
of  another  world.  A  death-like  stillness  of  the  place, 
not  an  animal  nor  an  insect  to  be  seen,  far  removed 
from  the  din  and  bustle  of  the  world,  impresses  on 
his  mind  with  double  force  the  extreme  helplessness 
of  his  condition — an  object  of  pity  and  compassion,  ut 
terly  unworthy  to  stand  in  the  presence  of  a  great  and 
good  Saviour  and  holy  God,  and  to  contemplate  the  di 
versified  works  of  his  hands." 

On  the  authority  of  this  traveller,  there  was  an  act 
ive  crater  on  the  summit  of  Mauna  Loa,  on  Hawaii, 
when  he  visited  it,  like  this  extinct  one  of  Hale-a-ka-la, 
twenty-four  miles  in  circumference,  u  five  miles  square 


116    •  .LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

of  which  is  a  lake  of  liquid  fire,  in  a  state  of  ebullition, 
sometimes "  tranquil,  at  other  times  rolling  its  blazing 
waves  with  furious  agitation,  and  casting  them  up  in 
columns  from  thirty  to  one  hundred  and  seventy  feet 
high.  In  places  the  hardened  lava  assumes  the  form 
of  Gothic  arches  in  a  colossal  building,  piled  one  above 
another  in  terrific  magnificence,  through  and  among 
which  the  fiery  fluid  forces  its  way  in  a  current  that 
proceeds  three  and  a  quarter  miles  per  hour,  or  loses 
itself  in  fathomless  chasms  at  the  bottom  of  the  cal 
dron.  This  volcano  is  twelve  hundred  and  seventy-two 
feet  deep  down  to  the  fire.  Its  chasms  and  caverns  can 
never  be  measured."* 

It  is  a  fit  employment,  when  standing  on  the  brink 
of  the  giant  crater  of  Hale-a-ka-la,  to  give  one's  imagi 
nation  scope,  and  attempt  to  conceive  the  vast  force 
and  intensity  of  those  mineral  fires  that,  ages  back,  had 
this  for  their  play-ground  and  place  of  disembogue- 
ment.  With  all  the  helps  afforded  in  the  rugged  fea 
tures  of  the  scene,  and  the  visual  evidence '  you  have 
of  the  terrible  volcanic  agency  that  here  had  sweep, 
imagination  falls  far  short  of  the  reality.  But  it  gives 
to  the  conceptive  faculty  vividness  and  amplitude  to 
visit  such  spots,  and  to  venture  out  on  such  imaginary 
excursions.  And  a  man  finds  the  material  he  gets 
there  an  element  of  power,  sustaining  the  imagination 
in  a  longer  flight,  and  giving  its  pinions  strength  and 
endurance. 

*  Hawaiian  Spectator,  vol.  II.  p.  405. 


MAETIN   LUTHEE   AND    ROWLAND    HILL.  117 

We  were  sorry  to  leave  the  summit  without  going 
down  into  the  abys's."*  But  that  was  impossible,  unless 
we  would  make  up  our  minds  to  spend  the  night  there, 
and  try  the  cold  and  moonlight,  for  which  we  were  not 
prepared.  We  had,  therefore,  to  make  the  best  of  our 
way  down  before  nightfall,  carrying  with  us  some 
plants  of  the  silver-sword,  and  specimens  of  a  silver 
geranium,  sage,  and  sandal-wood,  picked  by  the  way. 
Woefully  worn  and  weary,  but,  through  a  kind  Provi 
dence,  without  any  serious  accident,  we  all  reached 
again  the  hpspitable  house  of  our  entertainer  by  six 
o'clock. 

Perhaps,  in  perusing  this  account  of  the  spectacle 
of  grandeur  and  glory  presented  by  the  self-sustained 
clouds  of  Hale-a-ka-la,  some  reader  may  call  to  mind 
the  expression  that  burst  from  the  lips  of  Rowland 
Hill,  as  he  was  viewing  some  fine  scenery  in  England 
and  Wales  : — Oh,  if  these  outskirts  of  the  Almighty's 
dominion  can  with  one  glance  so  oppress  the  heart 
with  gladness,  what  will  be  the  disclosures  of  eternity, 
when  the  full  revelation  shall  be  made  of  the  things 
not  seen,  and  of  the  river  of  the  City  of  God  !  Or  that 
fine  passage  in  on e\>f  Luther's  Letters — 

"  I  saw  lately  two  signs  in  the  heavens.  I  looked 
from  my  window  in  the  middle  of  the  night,  and  I  saw 
the  stars,  and  all  the  majestic  vault  of  God,  sustaining 


*  The  bottom  of  this  crater,  according  to  measurements  of  the  U.  S. 
Exploring  Squadron,  is  2783  feet  below  the  summit-peak,  and  2093  feet 
below  the  level  of  the  wall. 


118  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

itself,  without  my  being  able  to  perceive  the  pillars 
upon  which  the  Creator  had  propped  it.  Nevertheless, 
it  crumbled  not  away.  There  are  those,  however,  who 
search  for  these  pillars,  and  who  would  fain  touch  them 
with  their  hands ;  but  not  being  able  to  find  them,  they 
trouble,  lament,  and  fear  the  heavens  will  fall.  Again, 
I  saw  great  and  heavy  clouds  floating  over  my  head 
like  an  ocean.  I  could  neither  perceive  ground  on 
which  they  reposed,  nor  cords  by  which  they  were  sus 
pended  ;  and  yet  they  did  not  fall  upon  us,  but  saluted 
us  rapidly  and  fled  away.  And  as  they  passed,  I  dis 
tinguished  a  splendid  rainbow.  Slight  it  was,  without 
doubt,  and  delicate ;  one  could  not  but  tremble  for  it 
under  such  a  mass  of  clouds.  Nevertheless,  this  aery 
line  sufficed  to  support  the  load,  and  to  protect  us.  So 
is  our  rainbow  weak,  and  the  clouds  heavy  ;  but  the 
end  will  tell  the  strength  of  our  bow." 

There  is  yet  another  and  original  lesson  we  learned 
from  our  lofty  look-out  on  the  House  of  the  Sun ;  which 
is  this — that  it  is  with  Christians,  in  their  travel  through 
the  world,  their  pilgrimage  to  the  heavenly  Canaan, 
as  nith  travellers  in  climbing  the  mountains  :  They 
must  ordinarily  pass  through  a  region  of  storms  and 
belts  of  clouds,  if  they  will  get  to  the  top  ;  and  it  is 
seldom  or  never  that  they  have  the  clear  sunshine  all 
the  way.  They  are  willing,  indeed,  to  be  drenched  in 
rain  and  enveloped  in  darkness,  for  the  grandeur  of  a 
storm  in  the  mountains,  and  to  see  how  glorious  is  the 
after  sun-gush.  And  they  enjoy  the  clear  weather  and 
reach  of  prospect  from  the  top  all  the  more,  for  hav- 


SPIRITUAL   LESSON   AND   IMPULSE.  119 

irig  gone  through  blackness  and  tempest  in  order  to 
gain  it. 

Who  that  has  ever  climbed  with  difficulty  some 
commanding  mountain,  and  thence  has  looked  far 
down  upon  the  zone  of  clouds  that  so  lately  enveloped 
him,  but  has  felt  this  ?  And  who  has  not  been  well 
paid,  as  we  were,  for  the  toil  and  danger  gone  through 
in  reaching  the  summit,  by  the  indescribable  magnifi 
cence  of  view  which  then  burst  upon  him,  made  up,  in 
great  part,  of  those  very  clouds,  that  -only  rained  upon 
him  when  he  was  in  their  bosom,  but  now  show  far  be 
low  him  like  fields  of  diamonds,  or  pavement  of  cjial- 
cedony  in  heaven's  own  light  ? 

Even  so  will  it  be  with  the  persevering  pilgrim, 
faint,  yet  pursuing,  when  he  stands  on  the  eminence 
of  Mount  Zion  above,  having  safely  surmounted  all  the 
trials,  and  perils,  and  storms  of  the  way.  Ah,  what  glo 
ry  will  break  upon  him  then,  if  he  has  been  found  faith 
ful  here  ;  and  what  a  position*  that  will  be  to  stand  in 
and  review  this  life,  and  find,  in  the  light  of  eternity, 
how  all  things  were  working  together  for  his  good ! 
EXCELSIOR,  EXCELSIOK,  be  my  motto,  as  I  mount  up 
ward  and  onward  to  the  City  of  God,  eternal  in  the 
heavens ! 


"  And  0  ye  everlasting  hills  ! 

Buildings  of  God,  not  made  with  hands, 
Whose  Word  performs  whate'er  he  wills, 

Whose  Word,  though  ye  shall  perish,  stands  ; 
Can  there  be  eyes  that  look  on  you, 

Till  tears  of  rapture  make  them  dim, 


120  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

Nor  in  his  works  the  Maker  view, 

Then  lose  his  works  in  Him  ? 
By  me,  when  1  behold  HIM  not, 

Or  love  Him  not  when  I  behold, 
Be  all  I  ever  knew  forgot ; 

My  pulse  stand  still,  my  heart  grow  cold  !" 

After  this  memorable  ascent  and  return  from  Hale- 
a-ka-la,  our  party  were  all  kindly  cared  for  by  Rev. 
Mr.  Green  at  JVtakawao,  including  the  United  States 
Commissioner,  George  Brown,  since  lost,  as  it  is  sup 
posed,  in  a  Typhoon,  on  his  return  to  America  by  way 
of  China. 

In  the  vicinity  of  Mr.  Green's  residence  at  Makawao 
is  the  largest  sugar-making  establishment  at  these  Isl 
ands,  except  that  on  Kauai.  It  belongs  to  an  enter 
prising  and  upright  American,  who  has  procured  a 
lease  from  government,  on  favorable  terms,  of  upward 
of  two  hundred  acres  of  excellent  land.  One  hundred 
and  fifty  are  under  cultivation  with  sugar-cane.  He 
has  cast-iron  cylinders  for 'his  mill,  which  is  turned  by 
oxen.  A  large  part  of  the  fuel  for  his -furnaces  is 
the  refuse  ground  cane.  Natives  are  employed  as 
laborers,  at  a  rate  of  from  twelve  to  twenty  cents 
per  day. 

The  sugar  has  to  be  carted  either  twelve  or  eighteen 
miles  to  a  landing-place,  where  it  sells  for  three  cents  a 
pound.  It  is  clean  and  well  granulated,  and  much  su 
perior  in  quality  to  the  common  West  India  brown 
sugar.  Much  of  the  cane-juice  is  not  made  into  sugar, 
but  boiled  into  syrup  or  molasses,  and  sold  for  eight 
and  ten  cents  per  gallon.  It  is  a  much  finer  article 


FARMING   LANDS   AT   EAST   MATJI. 


than  that  which  sells  in  America  for  thirty  and  thirty- 
five  cents. 

It  needs,  however,  the  best  thrift  and  husbandry  to 
keep  such  an  establishment  out  of  debt  and  make  it 
productive.  How  long  the  land  will  bear  cane  well 
without  manuring,  remains  to  be  seen.  The  Koloa 
plantation  on  Kauai  is  said  to  be  running  out,  and  no 
longer  to  yield  a  dividend  to  its  holders.  Extensive 
manuring,  it  is  thought,  will  be  necessary  in  order  to 
keep  up  its  productiveness.  The  high  lands  all  along 
the  south  side  of  East  Maui,  from  Kahikinui  to  Haiku, 
are  very  fine  for  farming.  It  is  the  region  in  which 
most  of  the  Irish  potatoes  are  raised  for  the  ships  at 
Lahaina,  and  all  the  wheat  raised  at  the  Islands  is 
grown  here.  .  Its  climate,  also,  is  highly  salubri 
ous,  and  it  will  yet  be  the  garden  of  the  Sand 
wich  Islands,  from  which  not  only  whale-ships,  but 
the  hotels  of  San  Erancisco,  shall  obtain  their  sup. 
plies. 

Were  it  a  land  of  brooks  of  water,  of  fountains  and 
depths  that  spring  out  of  valleys  and  hills,  as  well  as 
a  land  that  drinketh  water  of  the  rain  of  heaven,  it 
would  be  attractive  to  foreign  settlers  above  any  other 
district  in  this  group.  But,  owing  to  the  cavernous. 
and  cellular  character  of  the  rock,  as  in  every  volcanic 
country,  there  cannot  form  reservoirs  in  the  high  lands 
that  might  be  feeders  to  wells  dug  lower  down  ;  but 
the  rain  either  at  once  runs  off  in  some  places  on  the 
surface,  or  percolates  quickly  through  and  settles  to  a 
level  with  the  sea. 


122  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

Hence  there  are  no  wells  in  Hawaii-nei,  except  on 
coral  bottoms  nearly  at  a  level  with  the  ocean,  as  at 
Honolulu,  Lahaina,  and  the  mission  station  on  Molo- 
kai.  The  springs  from  which  natives  drink  all  along 
the  sea,  especially  on  the  leeward  side  of  the  Islands, 
are  so  brackish  that  their  water  is  hardly  better  than 
a  dose  of  salts  to  a  man  unused  to  it.  Up  in  the 
mountains,  it  is  found  in  pools  made  by  cavities  in  the 
rocks. 

*: 

In  returning  from  Makawao  to  "Wailuku,  a  distance 
of  twenty  miles,  you  may  take  a  romantic  path  down 
to  the  sea  by  the  way  of  Haiku,  through  dells  and 
groves  of  the  silvery  Ttukui,  and  the  deep-green  moon- 
leaved  Jcoa,  with  its  beautiful  mimosa-like  blossoms. 
Nearly  on  a  level  with  the  sea,  you  will  cross  several 
long,  nicely  smoothed  artificial  furrows,  in  which  the 
natives  used  to  play  at  ulu-maika,  a  kind  of  game  of 
quoits  ;  and  you  will  ride  over  fine  white  sand-hills,  as 
pure  and  crinkled  as  a  drift  of  new-fallen  snow,  and  as 
beautiful  and  barren,  too,  as  any  ever  seen  in  Araby 
the  Blest. 

One  sand-hill  in  that  vicinity  has  been  an  old 
bury  ing-ground  or  battle-place,  now  laid  bare  by  the 
winds.  Skulls,  having  jaws  in  perfect  preservation, 
with  thirty-four  teeth  sound,  (showing  that  the  savage 
practice  of  knocking  out  teetft  did  not  prevail  when 
they  were  inhumed,)  and  all  the  bones  of  the  human 
body,  some  of  them  of  gigantic  size,  lie  bleaching  all 
around. 


A   TREASURY    OF   HUMAN   BONES.  123 

I  collected  a  few  for  the  benefit  of  comparative  anat 
omy,  and  rode  off  with  a  skull  dangling  at  my  pommel, 
to  give  to  some  head-hunting  phrenologist ;  not,  how 
ever,  without  certain  compunctions  as  to  the  propriety 
of  transporting  the  dead,  and  separating  these  disjecta 
membra  of  our  common  humanity.  Be  it  that  they 
belong  only  to  the  ignobile  vulgus^  or  to  forgotten 
savage  chiefs,  yet  are  they  remnants  of  a  mortal 
that  is  to  put  on  immortality,  of  a  corruption  that 
is  to  inherit  incorruption,  alike  with  the  guarded 
bones  of  the  world's  proudest  kings,  whose  mauso 
leum  must  be  a  pyramid  or  structure  of  marble. 

Should  a  passion  for  bone-worship  ever  get  in  vogue 
here,  as  in  the  Old  World,  the  wily  priest  can  meta 
morphose  some  of  these  into  good  Saint  Anthony's, 
and  save  the  trouble  of  importation  from  his  tomb  in 
Egypt. 

Hamlet's  reflections  are  so  natural,  though  abrupt 
and  moulded  by  his  passion,  that  every  one  must  have 
had  them  in  turning  up  an  unknown  skull,  or  observ 
ing  for  the  first  time  the  bleaching  remains  of  the  dead 
— "That  had  a  tongue  in  it,  and  could  sing  once.  This 
might  be  my  lord  such-a-one  that  praised  my  lord  such- 
a-one's  horse,  when  he  meant  to  beg  it.  Dost  thou 
think  Alexander  looked  o'  this  fashion  in  the  earth  ? 
To  what  base  uses  may  we  return,  Horatio  f  Why 
may  not  imagination  trace  the  noble  dust  of  Alexan 
der,  till  he  find  it  stopping  a  bung-hole  ?  As  thus : 
Alexander  died,  Alexander  was  buried,  Alexander  re- 
turneth  to  dust ;  the  dust  is  earth  ;  of  earth  we  make 


124:  LIFE    IN    THE    SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

loam  :  and  why  of  that  loam,  wThereto  he  was  convert 
ed,  might  they  not  stop  a  beer-barrel  ? 

Imperial  Caesar  dead,  and  turned  to  clay, 
Might  stop  a  hole  to  keep  the  wind  away : 
0,  that  the  earth  which  kept  the  world  in  awe 
Should  patch  a  wall  to  expel  the  winter's  flaw  1" 

As  you  get  into  the  valley  and  vega  of  Wailuku,  you 
see  numerous  remains  of  old  Jcihapais,  or  cultivated 
lots,  and  divisions  of  land  now  waste,  showing  how 
much  more  extensive  formerly  was  the  cultivation,  and 
proportionally  numerous  the  people,  than  now.  It  is 
so  all  through  this  foodful  region.  From  accounts 
kept  one  year  by  Mr.  Green,  he  estimated  that  the 
births  were  to  the  deaths  as  one  to  five ;  and  he  says 
the  population  has  fallen  off  very  greatly  since  the  time 
he  was  first  settled  here. 

In  the  year  1842,  in  the  field  of  Eev.  Lorenzo  Ly 
ons,  on  the  Island  of  Hawaii,  out  of  a  population 
of  five  thousand  six  hundred,  there  were  four  hundred 
and  thirty-four  deaths,  and  ninety-eight  births ;  or  the 
births  to  the  deaths  as  one  to  four  and  two-sevenths. 
In  the  year  1848,  the  year  of  devastation  by  measles, 
the  excess  of  deaths  over  births  in  the  whole  kingdom 
was  estimated  at  six  thousand  four  hundred  and  sixty- 
five,  being  an  annual  decrease  of  about  eight  per  cent. 

If  foreigners  ever  supersede  the  native  race  here, 
they  may  cultivate  rice  in  the  present  inundated  Ttalo- 
patches,  and  without  any  change.  A  family  of  China 
men  are  raising  it  in  this  valley  in  considerable  quan- 


THE   GARDEN   OF   A   MISSIONARY.  125 

tity.  Two  crops  of  rice,  it  is  said,  can  be  realized 
while  one  of  kalo  is  ripening  alongside  of  it.  Labor 
expended  upon  it  would,  undoubtedly,  be  better  paid 
than  upon  the  arum  esculentum,  which  now  constitutes 
the  great  staple  of  Hawaiians.  But  there  must  be  ma 
chinery  introduced  to  thresh  and  winnow  it,  and  pots  to 
boil  it  for  eating,  which  few  yet  possess. 

The  Chinamen  have  an  Oriental  way  of  getting  the 
grain  out  of  the  husk,  which  is  highly  characteristic, 
but  hardly  to  be  described.  A  bed  of  it,  when  young 
and  growing,  is  of  a  fresh,  bright  green,  that  is  exceed 
ingly  grateful  to  the  eye. 

The  whole  valley  of  Wailuku,  cultivated  terrace  after 
terrace,  gleaming  with  running  waters  and  standing 
pools,  is  a  spectacle  of  uncommon  beauty  to  one  that 
has  a  position  a  little  above  it.  Mr.  Bailey's  garden, 
also,  at  the  mission  station,  irrigated  by  a  brook  led  out 
of  this  valley  at  a  point  some  way  up  towards  the 
mountain,  is  a  place  by  no  means  devoid  of  taste  and 
beauty.  It  is  altogether  the  prettiest  missionary's  garden 
in  the  Islands,  and  has  a  considerable  variety  of  plants, 
fruits,  and  flowers. 

Among  these  are  the  passion-flower,  the  mysterious 
ly  shrinking  little  sensitive-plant,  and  the  splendid  night- 
blooming  Cereus,  more  gorgeous  and  ample  in  its  corol 
la  than  the  Magnolia,  but  chastely  beautiful  in  its  color 
as  the  most  highly  prized  water-lily.  The  girls  of  Mr. 
Bailey's  school  show  no  little  taste  in  combining  the 
flowers  into  divers  wreaths  and  nosegays,  for  the  adorn 
ment  of  their  tables  and  persons. 


126  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH  ISLANDS. 

We  arrived  back  from  Makawao  in  time  to  be  pres 
ent  at  an  entertainment  which  they  gave  in  their  din- 
ing-hall,  under  the  direction  of  their  manager,  Miss 
Ogden,  to  the  visitors  at  the  station.  The  half  hun 
dred  hauma^ia  (pupils)  occupied  two  tables,  twenty 
feet  long.  The  visitors  and  resident  mission  families 
(of  whom  not  the  least  attractive  portion  was  twelve 
happy  children)  had  their  places  at  a  middle  one.  ^Lf- 
ter  the  guests  had  all  been  seated,  the  ringing  of  a  little 
table-bell  brought  in  all  the  girls,  neatly  dressed  and 
orderly,  to  their  seats.  Then  they  sang  a  verse  of  a 
hymn,  followed  by  a  blessing.  Supper  ensued  with 
great  cheerfulness,  concluded  with  giving  of  thanks  and. 
another  verse  of  an  Hawaiian  hymn. 

Afterwards,  out  on  the  grassy  play-ground,  we  had 
blind-man's-buff,  and  ball,  and  hide-and-go-seek,  with 
the  pretty  circle  of  boys  and  girls,  till  we  were  much 
more  tired,  but  not  less  pleased,  than  they.  "We  should 
like  to  keep  a  child's  heart,  and  spirits,  and  relish  for 
innocent  sports  as  long  as  we  live.  And  when  the  hu 
mor  suits  we  will  indulge  in  them,  and  try  to  make 
ourselves  and  children  happy,  for  all  the  world.  Quod 
delectat  juventutem  jucundurn  est  viro — That  which 
delights  the  youth  is  pleasing  to  the  man. 


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FIKST   CONVERT   TO    CHRISTIANITY.  127 


CHAPTER    VI. 

SKETCHES    OF   THE   BLIND    PREACHER   AND    THE    BIRTH-PLACE    OF 
KAAHUMANU,    IN    EAST    MAUI. 

THERE  is  no  light  without  companion  shade  : 

There  are  no  griefs  which  do  not  herald  joys : 
In  Nature's  balance  all  are  fairly  weighed, 

And  every  thing  must  have  its  equipoise. 
Great  Nature  is  a  choral  hymn  sublime, 

Its  melody  complete,  its  octaves  true  ; 
Its  notes  all  harmonize,  as  rhyme  with  rhyme  : 

If  there  be  any  discords,  they  are  few  ; 

And  when  they  cease,  the  rhythm  flows  anew. 

ANON. 

The  law  of  compensation  illustrated— Memorials  of  the  first  convert  to  Christianity— 
His  birth  and  boyhood— Early  deformity  and  loss  of  sight— Skill  in  the  Hula- 
Adoption  by  the  court  as  a  buffoon— Abandoned  to  perish— Dawning  of  the  day- 
spring— He  hears  of  Christ— He  turns  to  the  Pono— The  chiefs  send  for  him  to 
make  sport — Memorable  answer — Journal  respecting  him — A  fleeting  attitude — Di 
vine  sovereignty  exemplified — Probation  for  the  church — Record  of  his  examina 
tion — First-fruits — He  grows  and  endures — Light  breaks — Light  is  withdrawn — 
He  is  thrown  upon  memory — He  hides  the  Word  of  God — Acquires  extraordinary 
strength  and  tenacity  of  memory — Labors  effectively  with  the  missionaries — Is  li 
censed  to  preach  the  Gospel — Account  of  one  of  his  sermons — Power  as  a  preacher 
—Surprise  of  the  missionaries— Resources  of  illustration— Ministry  in  Honuaula— 
Life  and  death — We  pass  and  ponder  his  field  of  labor — Supposed  mental  exercises 
in  his  blindness — We  proceed  to  Hana — Remarkable  road  over  clinkers — How 
made,  and  by  whom — After-streams  from  the  volcano — The  warfare  of  a  night — 
Victory  to  the  Ukulele — A  chief  of  the  olden  time — A  dance  at  Kaupo — Perils  by 
canoe — Sketches  of  the  missionary  station  of  Hana — Natural  features  and  produc 
tions — Riding  up  to  the  clouds — Cave  where  Kaahumanu  was  born — Two  strange 
things  in  the  kingdom  of  nature  and  kingdom  of  grace— A  volcanic  bathing-house. 

THE  truth  at  the  head  of  this  Chapter,  that  there  is 
evermore  a  law  of  compensation  and  equipoise  running 
through  all  things,  has  its  comment  and  corroboration 
in  the  character  and  history  of  a  remarkable  man, 


128  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

through  the  earthly  scene  of  whose  labors  I  have  been 
passing,  in  order  to  reach  the  eastern  extremity  of  the 
Island  of  Maui. 

That  man  was  the  first  convert  to  Christianity  at 
these  Islands,  and  the  first  who  received  the  Christian 
ordinance  of  baptism,  formally  introducing  him  to  the 
fellowship  of  the  universal  Church,  under  the  Christian 
name  of  Bartimeus,  on  the  tenth  day  of  July,  1825. 
His  name  is  on  heavenly  records,  and  it  is  familiar  to 
the  ear  of  Protestant  Christendom,  as  the  Blind  Ha 
waiian  Preacher,  or  Bartimeus  L.  Puaaiki. 

The  district  of  Honuaula,  in  East  Maui,  through 
which  we  have  been  travelling,  was  the  sphere  of  his 
faithful  labors  as  a  minister  of  the  Gospel  for  the  four 
or  five  years  prior  to  his  death  in  September,  1843. 
He  was  born  in  the  densest  darkness  of  Savage  Pagan 
ism,  six  or  seven  years  after  the  death  of  Captain  Cook ; 
and,  when  buried  alive  by  the  hand  of  his  own  mother, 
he  was  saved,  in  the  providence  of  God,  to  be  a  chosen 
vessel  to  bear  his  name  before  kings. 

He  was  a  neglected  and  wicked  heathen  boy ;  and, 
between  his  early  addictedness  to  the  use  of  intoxica 
ting  awa,  his  filthy  habits,  and  exposures,  with  scarcely 
a  rag  of  clothing,  or  a  hat  to  shield  his  eyes  from  the 
rays  of  the  tropical  sun  or  wind,  he  had  nearly  lost  his 
eyesight  before  attaining  to  man's  estate.  In  a  brief 
sketch  of  him  by  one  of  the  missionaries,  it  is  said 
that  he  was  hideously  diseased ;  his  beard  flowed 
down  to  his  bosom ;  his  only  garment  was  an  old 
dirty  kikei,  or  native  kapa,  thrown  over  his  shoul- 


EARLY   LIFE   OF   BABTIMEUS.  129 

ders:  diminutive  in  size,  he  was  a  laughing-stock  of 
the  boys,  and  was  fast  wearing  himself  out  in  the  ser 
vice  of  Satan. 

"  In  these  circumstances,  he  attracted  the  notice  of 
Kamamalu,  the  favorite  Queen  of  Liholiho,  or  Kame- 
hameha  II.,  who  afterwards  died  in  England.  His 
skill  in  the  liula,  or  native  dance,  his  being  a  hairy 
man,  and  other  reasons  not  easily  known  at  present, 
recommended  him  to  the  favor  of  the  chiefs  ;  not,  in 
deed,  as  a  companion,  but  as  a  buffoon.  When  sent 
for,  he  made  sport  for  the  Queen  and  other  chiefs,  and 
received  in  return  a  pittance  of  food  and  of  his  favorite 
awa." 

On  the  arrival  of  the  pioneers  of  the  mission  at 
Kailua,  in  the  spring  of  1820,  Puaaiki  was  there  with 
the  chiefs,  but  he  probably  knew  nothing  of  them  or  of 
their  errand.  Having  given  permission  to  the  mission 
aries  to  remain  at  the  Islands  for  a  season,  the  King 
and  chiefs  sailed  for  Oahu.  Mr.  Bingham  accompa 
nied  them,  and  the  blind  dancer  followed  in  their  train. 
On  arriving  at  Honolulu,  he  had  a  severe  fit  of  sick 
ness.  In  addition  to  this,  his  disease  of  the  eyes  be 
came  much  aggravated ;  so  that,  shut  up  in  darkness, 
and  unable  to  make  his  accustomed  visits  to  the  Queen, 
he  was  well  nigh  forgotten,  and  in  danger  of  per 
ishing. 

"  But  the  time  of  deliverance  to  this  poor  captive  of 
Satan  (says  the  writer  of  the  sketch  above  referred  to) 
had  now  come.  He  was  visited  by  John  Honolii,  a  na 
tive  youth  educated  at  Cornwall,  Connecticut ;  who, 

6* 


130  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

seeing  Puaaiki  lying  in  this  pitiable  situation,  was 
touched  with  Christian  compassion,  and  spoke  to  him 
of  the  great  and  good  Physician,  who  alone  could  heal 
his  maladies  and  restore  his  sight.  Puaaiki  seemed  to 
rouse  up  on  hearing  tidings  of  so  unwonted  a  character, 
and  he  eagerly  inquired,  '  What  is  that  ?'  On  being 
again  directed  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  Physician 
of  souls,  he  said  at  once  that  he  would  go  and  hear  of 
him." 

As  soon  as  he  was  able  to  crawl  out  of  the  house,  he 
accompanied  Honolii  to  the  place  of  worship,  and  heard 
for  the  first  time  the  glad  tidings  of  great  joy  to  all 
people,  that  the  Son  of  Man  had  come  to  seek  and  to 
save  that  which  was  lost.  Nor  did  he  listen  in  vain ; 
for  the  Lord,  who  had  shined  out  of  darkness,  opened 
the  spiritual  eyesight  and  heart  of  this  blind  buffoon, 
to  receive  the  truth  in  the  love  thereof. 

The  change  wrought  in  him  by  the  Spirit  of  God 
soon  became  known,  his  connection  with  the  chiefs  be 
ing  one  means  of  making  it  public.  For,  soon  after  the 
period  of  his  hopeful  conversion,  the  chiefs,  having  a 
drunken  carousal,  sent  for  Puaaiki  to  practise  the  li 
centious  Tiula,  as  formerly,  for  their  diversion.  The 
answer  returned  was,  "  That  he  had  done  with  the  ser 
vice  of  sin  and  Satan,  and  that  henceforth  he  should 
serve  the  King  of  Heaven." 

Though  derided,  it  does  not  appear  that  he  was  op 
posed  in  any  way,  or  prevented  from  seeking  instruc 
tion  ;  and  some  of  the  chiefs  themselves,  for  whom 
he  had  made  sport,  soon  after  became  kindly  disposed 


CHANGE    FROM   THE   HEATHEN   TO    CHRISTIAN.        131 

to  the  new  religion,  and  all  of  them,  at  length,  friendly 
to  the  Mission. 

In  the  early  Journal  of  the  Mission,  we  find  it  said 
of  this  blind  refugee  from  Paganism,  "  ~No  one  has 
manifested  more  childlike  simplicity  and  meekness  of 
heart — no  one  appears  morex  uniformly  humble,  de 
vout,  pure,  and  upright.  He  is  always  at  the  house  of 
God,  and  there,  ever  at  the  preacher's  feet.  If  he  hap 
pens  to  be  approaching  our  habitations  at  the  time  of 
family  worship,  which  has  been  very  frequently  the 
case,  the  first  note  of  praise,  or  word  of  prayer,  which 
meets  his  ear,  produces  an  immediate  and  most  observ 
able  change  in  his  whole  aspect. 

"An  expression  of  deep  devotion  at  once  overspreads 
his  sightless  countenance,  while  he  hastens  to  prostrate 
himself  in  some  corner  in  an  attitude  of  reverence. 
Indeed,  so  peculiar  has  the  expression  of  his  counte 
nance  sometimes  been,  both  in  public  and  domestic- 
worship,  especially  when  he  has  been  joining  in  a 
hymn  in  his  own  language  to  the  praise  of  the  only 
true  God  and  Saviour — an  expression  so  indicative 
of  peace  and  elevated  enjoyment — that  tears  have 
involuntarily  started  in  our  eyes  at  the  persuasion 
that,  ignorant  and  degraded  as  he  once  has  been, 
he  was  then  offering  the  sacrifice  of  a  contrite 
heart,  and  was  experiencing  a  rich  foretaste  of  that 
joy  which  in  the  world  to  come  will  rise  immeas 
urably  high. 

"He  is  poor  and  despised  in  his  person,  small  almost 
to  deformity  ;  and  in  his  countenance,  from  the  loss  of 


132  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

sight,  not  prepossessing.  Still,  in.  our  judgment,  he 
bears  on  him  the  image  and  superscription  of  Christ ; 
and  if  so,  how  striking  an  example  of  the  truth  of  the 
Apostle's  declaration  :  God  hath  chosen  the  foolish 
things  of  the  ivorld  to  confound  the  wise ;  and  the 
weak  things  of  the  world  to  confound  the  things 
which  are  mighty ;  and  lase  things  of  the  world, 
and  things  which  are  despised,  hath  God  chosen; 
ye(Jb,  and  things  which  -  are  not,  to  bring  to  nought 
things  that  a/re;  that  no  flesh  should  glory  in  his 
presence  /" 

After  a  suitable  probation,  and  satisfaction  given  to 
the  missionaries  of  his  preparedness,  Bartimeus  was 
received  into  the  church,  along  with  one  other,  a  fe 
male.  The  following  is  Mr.  Richards'  record  of  the 
examination  undergone  by  this  blind  Hawaiian,  at  the 
time  of  his  admission  : 

Question.  Why  do  you  request  to  be  received  into 
the  church  ? 

Answer.  Because  I  love  Jesus  Christ,  and  I  love 
you,  and  I  desire  to  dwell  with  you  in  the  fold  of 
Christ,  arid  to  join  with  you  in  eating  the  holy  bread, 
and  drinking  the  holy  wine. 

Q.  "What  is  the  holy  bread  ? 

Ans.  It  is  the  body  of  Christ,  which  he  gave  to  save 
sinners. 

Q.  Do  we,  then,  eat  the  body  of  Christ  ? 

Ans.  ISTo,  but  we  eat  the  bread  which  means  his 
body ;  and  as  we  eat  bread  that  our  bodies  may  not 


EXAMINATION  FOR  THE  CHUKCH.         133 

die,  so  our  souls  love  Jesus  Christ,  and  receive  Mm  for 
their  Saviour,  that  they  may  not  die. 

Q.  What  is  the  holy  wine  ? 

Ans.  It  is  the  blood  of  Christ,  which  he  poured  out 
on  Calvary,  in  Jerusalem,  in  the  land  of  Judea,  to  save 
us  sinners. 

Q.  Do  we,  then,  drink  the  blood  of  Christ  ? 

Ans.  No,  but  the  wine  means  his  blood,  just  as  the 
holy  bread  means  his  body ;  and  all  those  who  go  to 
Christ,  and  lean  on  him,  will  have  their  sins  washed 
away  in  his  blood,  and  their  souls  saved  forever  in 
heaven. 

Q.  "Why  do  you  think  it  is  more  suitable  that  you 
should  join  the  church  than  others  ? 

Ans.  Perhaps  it  is  not,  (hesitating.)  If  it  is  not 
proper,  you  must  tell  me.  But  I  do  greatly  desire  to 
dwell  with  you  in  the  fold  of  Christ.  (Here  he  wiped 
his  blind  eyes.) 

Q.  Who  do  you  think  are  the  proper  persons  to  be 
received  to  the  church  ? 

Ans.  Those  who  have  repented  of  their  sins,  and  ob 
tained  new  hearts. 

Q.  What  is  a  new  heart  ? 

Ans.  It  is  one  that  loves  God,  and  loves  the  Word 
of  God,  and  does  not  love  sin,  or  sinful  ways. 

Q.  Do  you  think  you.  have  obtained  a  new 
heart  ? 

Ans.  At  one  time  I  think  I  have  ;  and  then  I  think 
again,  and  think  I  have  not.  I  do  not  know.  God 
knows.  I  hope  I  have  a  new  heart. 


134  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

Q.  What  makes  you  hope  that  you  have  a  new 
heart  ? 

Ans.  This  is  the  reason  why  I  hope  I  have  a  new 
heart.  The  heart  I  have  now  is  not  like  the  heart  I 
formerly  had.  The  heart  I  have  now  is  very  bad.  It 
is  unbelieving,  and  inclined  to  evil.  But  it  is  not 
like  the  one  I  formerly  had.  Yes,  I  think  I  have  a 
new  heart. 

These  questions  were  said  to  be  all  new  to  him,  and 
answered  from  his  own  knowledge,  without  ever  hav 
ing  committed  any  catechism. 

Once  in  the  church,  this  blind  Bartimeus  continued 
to  grow  in  knowledge,  grace,  and  usefulness.  He  be 
came  a  true  yoke-fellow  with  the  missionaries,  learning 
constantly  at  their  lips,  and  communicating  what  he 
learned  to  the  people. 

In  the  year  1829,  we  find  it  said  of  him,  that  he  was  be 
ginning  to  recover  his  eyesight  a  little,  and  was  making 
a  painful  effort  to  learn  to  read.  A  missionary's  wife  at 
Hilo  in  1830,  where  Bartimeus  then  lived  as  a  Chris 
tian  laborer,  collected  a  few  children  and  taught  them 
the  elements  of  reading.  Bartimeus  at  once  applied 
for  admission  to  the  class,  but  was  discouraged  on  the 
ground  of  his  blindness,  and  that  the  school  was  merely 
for  children.  His  reply  was,  that  he  was  a  child,  and 
must  insist  upon  attending.  And,  by  literally  digging, 
as  it  was  said — for  he  was  so  dim  of  sight  that  he  used 
to  bury  his  face  in  his  book — he  became  able  to  make 
out  a  verse  in  the  Bible. 


REMARKABLE    STRENGTH    OF   MEMORY.  135 

The  disease  in  his  eyes,  however,  suddenly  assumed 
such  an  aggravation,  that  he  was  forced  to  abandon  his 
design  of  becoming  a  Bible-reader,  and  to  throw  him 
self  for  Scripture  knowledge  entirely  upon  the  resour 
ces  of  his  tenacious  memory.  Every  text  and  ser 
mon  he  then  heard  were  indelibly  fixed  in  his  mind, 
and  fragments  of  Scripture  at  that  time  being  printed 
in  his  native  tongue,  were  made  fast  in  his  memory,  wrord 
for  word,  chapter  and  verse,  by  hearing  them  read  a 
few  times. 

"  The  arrangement  of  Providence,"  says  Mr.  Green, 
"  by  which  he  was  obliged  to  hide  the  word  of  God  in 
his  heart,  was  a  wise  and  benevolent  arrangement ;  for 
he  never  could  have  become  so  eloquent  and  mighty  in 
the  Scriptures  as  he  actually  became,  had  he  depended 
upon  his  imperfect  vision,  instead  of  his  extraordinary 
memory.  Still,  his  example  at  Hilo  as  a  laborer,  put 
ting  himself  in  the  place  of  a  little  child,  learning  his 
letters,  and  spelling  out  sentences  till  he  could  actually 
read,  was  of  incalculable  value.  It  was  to  him,  also,  a 
matter  of  unfeigned  delight,  that  he  had  been  able, 
though  for  a  short  season  only,  to  trace  with  his  own 
eyes  the  lines  of  the  Book  of  God,  which  he  loved  more 
than  his  daily  food." 

He  labored  with  great  assiduity  and  delight  during 
the  Great  Eevival  of  1837  and  '38,  when  he  was  pub 
licly  ordained  to  the  office  of  Elder.  In  1840,  he  was 
duly  licensed,  upon  examination  at  "Wailuku,  as  a  min 
ister  of  the  Gospel  in  Honuaula,  where  he  labored  with 
great  fidelity  and  acceptableness,  up  to  the  time  of  his 


136  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

decease;  returning,  every  few  weeks,  to  recruit  his 
stores  and  refill  his  urn  at  the  missionary  granary  and 
well-head,  where  he  was  always  welcome,  at  Wai- 
luku. 

I  have  heard  Mr.  Clark  narrate  with  great  interest  an 
account  of  a  sermon  which  Bartimeus  preached  there 
at  a  protracted  meeting,  when  the  King  was  present,  in 
the  evening.  His  text  was  Jer.  iv.  13  :  Behold,  he 
shall  come  up  as  clouds,  and  his  chariots  shall  l)e  as  a 
whirlwind.  He  seized  upon  the  terrific  image, of  a 
whirlwind  or  tornado,  as  an  emblem  of  the  ruin  which 
God  would  bring  upon  his  enemies.  This  image,  said 
Mr.  Clark,  he  presented  in  -all  its  majestic  and  awful 
aspects,  enforcing  his  remarks  with  such  passages  as 
Ps.  Iviii.  9  :  He  shall  take  them  away  as  with  a  whirl 
wind,  both  living  and  in  his  wrath.  Prov.  i.  27  :  And 
your  destruction  cometh  as  a  whirlwind.  Isa.  xl.  24  : 
And  the  whirlwind  shall  take  them  away  as  stubble. 
Jer.  xxx.  23  :  Behold,  the  whirlwind  of  the  Lord  goeth 
forth  with  fury,  a  continual  whirlwind  ;  it  shall  fall 
with  pain  upon  the  head  of  the  wicked.  Hosea  viii.  7 : 
For  they  have  sown  the  wind,  and  they  shall  reap  the 
whirlwind. 

Many  other  passages,  also,  he  referred  to,  in  which 
the  same  image  is  presented,  always  quoting  chapter 
and  verse,  till  the  missionary  was  himself  surprised  to 
find  that  this  image  is  so  often  used  by  the  sacred  wri 
ters.  And  how  this  blind  man,  never  having  used  a 
Concordance  or  Eeference  Bible  in  his  life,  could,  on 
the  spur  of  the  moment,  refer  to  all  those  texts,  was  lit- 


INSTANCE   OF   POWER   IN   PREACHING.  137 

tie  less  than  a  mystery.  But  his  mind  was  stored  with 
the  precious  treasure,  and  that  in  such  order,  that  he 
always  had  it  at  command. 

I  was  never,  said  our  informant,  so  forcibly  impress 
ed,  as  while  listening  to  this  address,  with  the  remark 
of  the  Apostle,  Knowing,  therefore,  the  terror  of  the 
Lord,  we  persuade  men  ;  and  seldom  have  I  witnessed 
a  specimen  of  more  genuine  eloquence. 

Near  the  close  of  his  remarks,  turning  to  the  King 
and  his  chiefs,  he  said,  Who  can  withstand  the  fury  of 
the  Lord,  when  he  comes  in  his  chariots  of  whirlwind  ? 
You  have  heard  of  the  cars  in  America  propelled  by 
fire  and  steam — with  what  mighty  speed  they  go,  and 
how  they  crush  all  in  their  way.  So  will  the  swift 
chariots  of  Jehovah  overwhelm  all  his  enemies.  Flee, 
then,  to  the  ark  of  safety !  Here  (added  Mr.  Clark) 
his  appeal  to  the  King  and  chiefs  was  bold,  and 
yet  persuasive,  and,  one  would  have  thought,  irre 
sistible* 

Many  more  things  might  be  told,  and  addresses  quo 
ted  of  this  blind  Hawaiian  Preacher,  over  the  field  of 
whose  ministry  in  Honuaula  I  could  not  ride,  without 
feeling  that  it  was  dignified  as  with  the  footsteps  of  an 
gels,  for  having  been  the  scene  of  the  labors  of  this 
man  of  God.  I  praised,  as  I  passed,  the  compensating 
sovereign  grace  of  God,  who,  first  choosing  so  unprom 
ising  an  instrument  as  this  dwarfed  and  deformed  out 
cast  of  humanity,  from  whom  wisdom  w^as  at  one  en 
trance  quite  shut  out,  did  so  maivellously  make  up  to 
him  the  loss  of  outward  sense  by  inward  seeing.  The 


138  LIFE   IN   THE    SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

Oxford  lines,  attributed,  without  warrant,  to  Milton, 
might  have  come  from  him  : 

I  am  old  and  blind  ! 

Men  point  at  me  as  smitten  by  God's  frown  ; 
Afflicted  and  deserted  of  my  kind,- 

Yet  I  am  not  cast  down. 

I  am  weak,  yet  strong  ; 
I  murmur  not,  that  I  no  longer  see  ; 
Poor,  old,  and  helpless,  I  the  more  belong, 

Father  Supreme  !  to  Thee. 

I  have  naught  to  fear  : 
This  darkness  is  the  shadow  of  thy  wing  ; 
Beneath  it  I  am  almost  sacred — here 

Can  come  no  evil  thing. 

•  Visions  come  and  go  ; 

Shapes  of  resplendent  beauty  round  me  throng  ; 
From  angel  lips  I  seem  to  hear  the  flow 
Of  soft  and,  holy  song. 

Two  days  and  nights  of  continued  mule-riding  and 
canoeing  from  Wailuku,  through  the  bishppric  of  Mr. 
Green  and  the  Blind  Preacher,  have  brought  us,  worn 
and  weary,  to  the  quiet  Station  of  Hana,  East  Maui, 
where  visitors,  or  haoles  of  any  sort,  seldom  make  their 
way.  It  is  too  inaccessible,  and  far  from  any  port,  for 
sailors  to  get  to;  and  the  way  is  too  rough  and  long  for 
common  travellers  and  explorers. 

Yet  it  is  a  way  not  devoid  of  interest  and  novelty, 
especially  that  part  of  it  which  runs  from  Honuaula  to 
Kahikinui  and  -Kaupo ;  for  it  is  a  road  built  by  the 
convicts  of  adultery,  some  years  ago,  when  the  laws 


REMARKABLE    ROAD    OVER   CLINKERS.  139 

relating  to  that  and  other  crimes  were  first  enacted, 
under  the  administration  of  the  celebrated  chief  Hoa- 
pili,  in  whom  was  the  first  example  of  a  Christian  mar 
riage. 

It  is  altogether  the  noblest  and  best  Hawaiian  work 
of  internal  improvement  I  have  anywhere  seen.  It  is 
carried  directly  over  a  large  verdureless  tract,  inunda 
ted  and  heaved  up  by  an  eruption  from  the  giant  cra 
ter  of  Hale-a-ka-la ;  and  when  it  is  considered  that  it 
was  made  by  convicts,  without  sledge-hammers,  or 
crow-bars,  or  any  other  instrument  but  the  human 
hands,  holding  a  stone,  and  the  Hawaiian  Oo,  it  is 
worthy  of  great  admiration.  It  is  as  great  a  work 
for  Hawaiians,  as  digging  the  Erie  Canal  to  Ameri 
cans. 

A  Yankee  engineer,  to  stand  on  either  side  of  that 
vast  field — and  yet,  by  reason  of  its  pits,  and  ravines, 
and  blown-up  hills,  and  dislocations,  not  a  field,  but  a 
chaos  of  blackened  lava— would  be  confounded  and  put 
to  his  wit's  end  to  know  where  to  begin  and  carry  a 
road. 

Were  the  waves  of  the  ocean,  in  a  tempest,  when 
wind  and  current,  or  the  former  swell,  were  in  con 
flict,  to  be  suddenly  congealed  to  the  depth  of  twenty 
or  thirty  feet,  and  the  water  below  to  be  then  in  a  mo 
ment  let  off,  or  vanish,  the  bed  of  old  Ocean  would  not 
exhibit  such  a  rugged,  confused,  and  unnavigable  waste 
as  these  tracts  of  broken  lava. 

Or,  as  I  have  seen  it  somewhere  illustrated,  if  the 
furious  rapids  of  a  mighty  river  had  been  turned 


14:0  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

into  ink,  and  the  cold  of  a  winter's  day  at  the  poles 
applied,  and  every  part  had  become  instantaneously 
congealed  in  the  position  where  it  was  just  then  whirl 
ing,  tossing,  foaming,  and  tumbling,  while  millions  of 
flint-like  particles,  shivered  from  the  mass  by  the  sud 
denness  and  intensity  of  the  operation,  lay  scattered 
about,  it  might  perhaps  present  an  aspect  like  that  of 
this  old  current  from  a  volcano. 

In  attempting  to  account  for  it,  it  seems  sometimes 
as  if  a  new  eruption  of  intensely  heated  lava  had 
forced  and  eaten  its  way  under  a  tract  of  solidified  mat 
ter,  and  at  length,  by  the  expansive  force  of  rarefied 
gases,  and  steam,  and  the  vast  pressure  at  its  fountain, 
had  suddenly  burst,  and  up-heaved  into  a  million  frag 
ments  the  great  superincumbent  mass.  Then  let  there 
follow  an  indefinite  period  of  earthquake  topplings  and 
convulsions,  and  there  might  be  produced  the  phenom 
ena  exhibited. 

Straight  over  such  a  tract,  crime  itself,  under  the  en 
ergetic  management  of  Hoapili,  has  built  a  commodious 
road  from  Honolulu  to  Kaupo.  Like  the  old  man  in 
a  The  Rime  of  the  Ancient  Mariner,"  we  almost 
"  blessed  it  unawares,"  as  our  mules  safely  trotted  or 
cantered  by  moonlight  over  the  path  it  had  made. 
The  imaginary  bridge  that  Sin  and  Death  built  over 
Chaos  for  Satan, — 


Over  the  foaming  deep  high-arched,  a  bridge 
Of  length  prodigious,  broad  as  the  gate, 
Dee.p  as  the  roots  of  hell, — 


CONFLICT   WITH   THE   UKULELE.  141 

is  not  to  be  compared  to  this  real  one  which  Sin  has 
wrought  on  Maui. 

It  is  made  by  running  two  parallel  walls  about 
twenty  feet  apart,  then  partially  macadamizing  the. 
space  between,  and  covering  it  with  grass  or  stubble. 
For  fifteen  or  twenty  miles  it  runs  almost  like  a  rail 
road,  only  turning  a  little  now  and  then  to  avoid  some 
gigantic  boulder,  or  forced  into  a  zigzag  to  get  over 
some  precipitous  ravine,  which  it  wrould  seem  as  if  an 
impetuous  after-stream  of  devouring  fire  from  the 
mountain  had  ploughed  and  eaten  through,  till  it 
reached  the  sea. 

We  arrived  at  half  past  twelve  the  first  night  at  a 
village  where  we  thought  to  have  stayed  until  day ; 
but  the  kamaainas  (inhabitants)  were  all  away,  and  so 
we  had  to  lay  down  as  we  were,  suppeiiess,  (our  man 
with  food  having  fallen  behind,)  upon  the  round-stone 
floor  of  the  meeting-house.  Hard  as  it  was,  it  would 
have  been  a  grateful  resting-place,  but  for  the  warfare 
of  merciless  fleas,  (ukulele^)  who,  when  they  found  what 
we  were,  and  what  a  royal  supper  they  might  make  on 
the  blood  of  two  Tiaoles^  set  to  so  fiercely,  that,  after 
many  vain  struggles,  we  were  forced  to  enter  a  nolo 
contender  e,  and  leave  the  honors  of  the  field  to  our  in 
satiate  foes. 

We  decamped  about  three,  and  rode  on  to  Nuu,  in 
Kaupo.  where  they  hospitably  entertained  and  lornilo- 
mied  us,  and  I  drowned  several  flying  detachments  of 
the  ukulele  tribe,  by  a  bath  in  the  sea. 

We  saw  there  the  high-chief  Kealiiahonui,  of  Kauai, 


142  LIFE   IN    THE   SANDWICH    ISLANDS. 

one  of  the  former  husbands  of  the  imperious  Queen 
Kaahumanu,  of  whom  Stewart  writes,  as  far  back  as 
1823,  that  "he  .has  a  handsome  face,  and,  in  the 
classic  drapery  of  a  yellow  satin  malo,  and  purple 
satin  Jcihei,  he  presents  as  perfect  a  model  of  manly 
beauty  as  ever  challenged  the  efforts  of  pencil  or 
chisel." 

Twenty-one  years  have  not  altered  his  fine  propor 
tions,  nor  bent  his  noble,  athletic  form,  although  the 
classic  malo  and  Jcihei  have  given  place  to  European 
jacket  and  trowsers.  He  was  there  from  the  Island  of 
Kauai,  to  oversee  the  repair  of  a  schooner  of  his,  which, 
in  the  drunkenness  of  all  her  company,  was  not  long 
since  run  upon  the  rocks. 

Our  last  stage  for  the  day  was  to  the  chief  village  of 
Kaupo,  as  far  as  mules  could  go,  where  w^e  supped  and 
dined  all  under  one,  at  the  house  of  the  teacher,  on  a 
boiled  chicken.  A  little  rain,  after  the  setting  in  of 
evening,  made  a  beautiful  lunar  rainbow  up  among  the 
picturesque  hills  and  mountains,  so  bright  as  to  show 
its  parhelion,  or  mock-rainbow. 

The  Tcamaainas  of  this  place  seemed  much  unused  to 
foreigners.  Several  of  the  women  were  abroad  with 
nothing  but  a  narrow  native  pau  around  the  waist. 
The  children  of  the  school,  upward  of  a  hundred,  were 
interesting,  as  they  always  are.  Some  of  the  little 
barbarians  set  up  a  hula  for  my  amusement  towards 
evening,  which  was  the  first  time  I  had  ever  seen  a  na 
tive  dance.  It  consisted  merely  of  successive  jumps 
with  both  feet  at  once,  to  a  regular  harsh  sound  from 


PERILOUS   SAILING   BY   CANOE.  143 

the  lungs}  and  occasional  slapping  or  drumming  of  the 
hands  upon  the  bare  breasts  and  sides,  together  with 
distortions  of  the  countenance  and  gesticulations  with 
the  arms. 

At  early  dawn  of  the  next  day,  the  fierce  trade, 
which  always  blows  at  Kaupo,  having  somewhat  aba 
ted,  we  started  to  go  round  a  range  of  highpalis  (pre 
cipices)  by  a  little  canoe.  She  took  a  wave,  on  first 
launching,  from  stem  to  stern,  that  completely  drench 
ed  my  limbs,  and  was  ever  after  receiving  water  over 
the  sides,  that  kept  one  of  us  constantly  bailing.  It 
was  only  about  fifteen  feet  long,  and  fifteen  or  sixteen 
inches  deep,  and  barely  wide  enough  for  a  man  to 
sit  in. 

"We  had  seen  a  man  on  shore,  before  leaving,  whose 
foot  had  recently  been  bitten  short  off  a  little  above 
the  ankle  by  a  shark  at  that  place ;  and  the  idea  of 
being  capsized  there  was  by  no  means  a  comfortable 
one.  But  through  the  good  care  of  our  God,  we  pass 
ed  safely  around  the  palis^  and,  by  careful  watching 
on  the  part  of  the  people  where  we  landed,  and  of 
our  three  paddlers  in  the  canoe,  we  seized  a  time  be 
tween  the  waves,  and  were  paddled  and  drawn  up 
high  and  dry. 

Having  to  climb  a  precipice,  limbered  per  force  our 
nether  limbs,  which  were  somewhat  stiffened  after  a 
two  hours'  immersion  in  brine.  A  ride  of  six  or  seven 
miles  on  horseback,  after  getting  on  dry  apparel, 
brought  us  safely  to  Hana,  the  former  home  of  my 
missionary  travelling  companion,  Mr.  Rice,  where  the 


144:  LIFE   IN   THE    SANDWICH    ISLANDS. 

quiet  rural  beauty,  freedom  from  dust,  and  grateful 
verdure,  invite  to  meditation  and  repose. 

How  appropriate  and  expressive  is  that  Hymn  of  Na 
ture  by  Peabody,  written,  perhaps,  in  circumstances 
like  those  in  which  we  are  now  surveying  the  beauties 
of  Creation  in  the  Heart  of  the  Pacific  ! 

God  of  the  fair  and  open  sky ! 

How  gloriously  above  us  springs 
The  tented  dome,  of  heavenly  blue, 

Suspended  on  the  rainbow's  rings  ! 
Each  brilliant  star,  that  sparkles  through, 

Each  gilded  cloud,  that  wanders  free 
In  evening's  purple  radiance,  gives 

The  beauty  of  its  praise  to  thee  ! 

God  of  the  world  !  the  hour  must  come, 

And  Nature's  self  to  dust  return ; . 
Her  crumbling  altars  must  decay ; 

Her  incense-fires  shall  cease  to  burn ; 
But  still  her  grand  and  lovely  scenes 

Have  made  man's  warmest  praises  flow ; 

AND  HEARTS  GROW  HOLIER  AS  THEY  TRACE 
THE  BEAUTY  OF  THE  WORLD  BELOW. 

The  mission  history  and  statistics  of  this  Station  of 
Hana  may  be  given  in  a  few  words.  It  was  first  taken 
in  1838,  by  Messrs.  Ives  and  Conde,  with  their  wives. 
They  labored  under  the  disadvantage  which  the  first 
occupants  at  rainy  stations  have  always  incurred,  of 
having  to  live  for  several  years  in  native  grass  houses  ; 
by  which,  together  with  severe  missionary  labor  in 
schools,  the  health  of  Mrs.  Ives  was  so  broken,  that 
they  were  compelled  to  remove  to  the  dry  Station  of 
Kealakeakua,  on  Hawaii. 


HISTORY    AND    STATISTICS    OF   THE    STATION.  145 

Their  first  houses,  also,  were  consumed  by  fire,  with 
a  great  part  of  their  furniture  and  goods.  Two  com 
modious  stone  dwelling-houses  are  now  erected,  and 
ten  or  twelve  acres  of  excellent  land  given  by  gov 
ernment,  are  nearly  inclosed. 

To  those  who  love  to  be  out  of  the  world,  and  who 
have  health  and  heart  to  devote  themselves  to  mission 
ary  work,  the  location  presents  many  attractions.  And 
for  those  who  would  like  to  visit  there,  a  man  need  not 
be  the  son  of  a  prophet  to  predict  a  cordial  reception, 
pleasant  society,  and  hospitable  fare. 

Mr.  Rice,  who  was  located  here  in  1841,  to  have 
charge  of  the  schools,  and  who  has",  himself  taught  an 
interesting  school  of  boys,  is  removed  to  Punahou,  to 
be  devoted  there  to  the  children  of  the  mission.  He 
had  built  a  fine  house,  which  he  has  never  occu 
pied,  and  was  just  getting  ready  to  labor  with  ad 
vantage.  Rev.  Mr.  Whittlesey  and  wife  have  auspi 
ciously  entered  into  his  labors  ;  and,  with  a  new  teach 
er,  a  new  religious  interest  has  been  awakened  among 
the  people. 

Mr.  Oonde  is  pastor  of  the  native  church,  which 
numbers  five  hundred  members,  having  been  organized 
in  1838  with  fourteen.  The  walls  of  a  new  stone 
meeting-house  are  commenced,  which  is  to  be  one  hun 
dred  and  fifteen  feet  long,  and  forty-eight  wide.  Many 
of  the  stones  are  from  an  old  lieiau.  It  is  to  be  built 
by  the  people  and  pastor,  and  by  contributions  from 
other  churches.  The  population  of  Mr.  Conde's  dio 
cese  (which  from  extreme  end  to  end  is  sixty  miles)  is 

7 


146  LIFE    IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

about  eight  thousand.  Seventeen  hundred  children  are 
in  schools.  The  missionary  makes  among  them  three 
or  four  tours  a  year. 

The  medical  wants  of  the  people  are  many,  and  to 
supply  them  is  a  great  tax  upon  the  pastor.  The  room 
where  he  meets  the  sick,  and  transacts  business  with 
the  natives,  he  turns,  when  necessary,  into  a  hospital. 
If  an  adult  or  child  comes  from  a  distance,  that  needs 
to  be  treated  medicinally,  he  has  a  bed  spread  for 
them,  and  there  administers  proper  food  and  medicine, 
until  they  are  well  or  die.  It  is  a  practice  which  at  all 
the  stations  might  save  many  lives,  especially  of  young 
children. 

But  it  would  necessarily  involve  an  outlay  of  time 
and  money  that  can  rarely  be  commanded.  A  physi 
cian,  to  itinerate  between  Hana  and  Wailuku,  and  the 
Island  of  Molokai,  is  very  much  needed,  and  could 
do  great  good.  If  the  Board  send  out  celibates, 
they  had  better  be  physicians,  who  could  go  untram 
melled  from  station  to  station,  to  assist  and  heal  the 
sick. 

The  physical  features  of  this  region  are  more  like 
some  parts  of  the  windward  side  of  the  great  Island 
of  Hawaii,  than  any  thing  that  is  to  be  seen  elsewhere 
in  the  group.  Cascades  far  up  in  the  mountains,  four 
or  five  thousand  feet,  and  leaping  precipices  at  once 
of  eight  hundred  feet ;  numerous  conical,  green-sward 
hills,  the  work  of  old  volcanoes  ;  gentle  slopes  and 
copses,  and  woody  dells  ;  tracts  of  lava  scarcely  at  all 


PRODUCTIVENESS   OF   LAVA   GROUNDS. 


disintegrated,  yet  covered  with  a  luxuriant  growth  of 
grass,  wild  cane,  the  H-plant,  wauke,  noni,  and  the 
hala-tree,  (pandanus.) 

The  long  leaves  of  the  latter  (which  is  a  species  of 
the  palm,  somewhat  like  the  Palmetto  of  South  Caroli 
na)  furnish  the  material  for  thatching;  and  the  body  of 
the  male  tree,  which  is  very  hard,  and  here  grows  tall 
and  large,  is  used  for  posts. 

Benignant  Nature,  on  the  windward  side  of  these 
Islands,  where  there  is  much  rain,  soon  mantles^  over 
the  scarred  path  of  an  eruption  with  verdure.  Mr. 
Coan  told  me  that  sweet  potatoes  were  already  grow 
ing  in  Puna,  in  the  pathway  of  the  lava  of  1840  ;  the 
natives  having  made  basins  in  some  parts  of  the  loose 
lava,  by  taking  out  a  few  of  the  stones,  putting  in  a  lit 
tle  sand  and  grass,  dropping  a  potato,  and  then  covering 
it  with  dry  grass.  It  soon  makes  for  itself  a  mold,  and 
shoots  out  its  vines,  and  they  raise*  in  this  way  the  most 
mealy  potatoes. 

These,  and  upland  Tcalo  and  bananas,  are  at  present 


*  The  method  of  cultivating  Sweet  Potatoes  at  the  Sandwich  Isl 
ands  may  very  properly  give  a  hint  to  agriculturists  elsewhere.  It 
answers  more  nearly  to  the  process  sometimes  called  mulching,  than 
to  any  other  practice  known  in  the  tillage  of  England  or  A  merica.  An 
American  horticulturist  thus  describes  the  application  of  a  similar  pro 
cess  to  the  cultivation  of  gooseberries  : 

"  The  English  gooseberry  has  always  hitherto  mildewed  here  ;  and  I 
have  been  familiar  with  bushes  of  the  best  sorts  for  many  years,  with 
out  ever  being  able  to  gather  any  perfect  fruit. 

"  I  have  lately  mulched  some  old  bushes  which  had  hitherto  borne 
this  worthless  fruit.  I  covered  the  surface  of  the  ground  under  them 


14:3  LIFE    IN    THE   SANDWICH    ISLANDS. 

the  chief  agricultural  products  of  this  region,  although 
almost  any  thing  may  be  made  to  grow,  the  soil  being 
a  comparatively  recent  decomposition  of  lava,  exceed 
ingly  productive  all  the  way  up  from  the  sea-side  to  the 
top  of  the  mountain,  the  ascent  of  which  is  here  so 
gradual  and  smoothly  carpeted  with  green,  that  you  can 
ride  on  horseback  quite  up  to  the  clouds. 

Directly  opposite  the  mission  premises,  which  are 
only  forty  or  fifty  rods  from  the  sea,  there  rises  a  high 
volcanic  bluff  four  hundred  and  fifty  feet,  being  the 
easternmost  point  of  Maui,  called  Kauwiki.  In  a 
cave  at  its  base,  which  I  have  visited,  the  now  world- 
known  Queen  Kaahumanu,  whose  portrait  faces  the 
title  of  this  volume,  first  saw  the  light,  in  a  time  of 
war. 

In  one  of  his  preaching  tours  through  this  region, 
before  there  was  a  resident  missionary,  Mr.  Armstrong 
called  at  this  spot,  and,  from  his  acquaintance  with  the 
facts  of  history,  he  very  naturally  penned  his  medita 
tions  in  these  words  : — "  An  individual  is  born  at  Hana, 
the  very  end  of  the  earth,  (for  the  house  stood  on  the 
very  extremity  of  the  island,  and  not  two  rods  from  the 
water's  edge,)  of  high,  but  heathen  parents ;  brought  up 
from  childhood  in  perfect  familiarity  with  all  that  is 
corrupting,  degrading,  hardening,  and  darkening;  con- 


a  foot  deep  with  wet,  half-rotten  straw,  extending  this  mulching  as  the 
branches  grew. 

"  Imagine  my  delight  at  finding  the  gooseberries  on  the  bushes  so 
mulched  ripening  off  finely,  the  fruit  twice  as  large  as  I  have  ever  seen 
it  before,  and  quite  fair  and  free  from  mildew." 


THE   TWO    EXTREMES    OF    HEATHENISM. 

sequenthr,  became  one  of  the  worst  of  human  kind — 
haughty,  filthy,  lewd,  tyrannical,  cruel,  wrathful,  mur 
derous,  and  almost  every  thing  else  that  is  bad.  So 
she  lived  for  perhaps  fifty  years ;  and  then,  while  sit 
ting  Queen  of  this  nation,  feared  and  flattered  by  all, 
the  grace  of  God  reached  her  heart,  and  she  put  off  the 
old  man,  with  his  deeds.  She  reigned  a  few  years  as 
a  Christian,  constraining  the  very  enemies  of  truth  to 
admire  her  integrity,  her  regard  for  the  poor,  and  her 
wisdom  as  a  ruler,  and  died  in  1832,  praising  God  and 
the  Lamb." 

Some  of  her  last  words  audible  were,  as  translated, 
thus  : — "  I  will  go  to  Jesus,  and  shall  be  comforted. 

Lo,  here  am  I,  0  Jesus : 
Grant  me  thy  gracious  smile  !" 

Well  may  we  say,  Wonderful,  wonderful,  to  such  an 
epitome  of  history  as  hers  was  from  her  cave  to  her 
grave  !  In  this  remarkable  Hawaiian  Queen,  and  the 
no  less  remarkable  Hawaiian  Preacher,  we  have  exem 
plified  at  once  the  moral  Heart  of  the  Pacific,  as  it  was 
and  as  it  is.  Two  things  here  are  almost  equally 
strange  in  the  Kingdom  of  Nature  and  the  Kingdom 
of  Grace.  One  is,  that  the  volcano  of  depravity  should 
ever  have  become  extinct  so  entirely,  and  at  about 
the  same  time,  in  those  two  extreme  ends  of  heathen 
ism,  the  despot  Kaahumanu,  and  the  slave  Bartimeus  ! 
The  other  is,  how,  why,  or  when  the  belching  volcano, 
at  the  foot  of  which  Kaahumanu  was  born,  ceased  to 
burn. 


150  LIFE   IN   THE    SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

Eruptions  of  scoria,  slag,  cinders,  and  pumice,  have 
evidently  issued  from  both  its  sides,  and  flowed  over 
in  strata  that  are  plainly  marked  where  they  are  broken 
off,  on  the  side  next  the  sea.  You  descend  into  one  of 
its  craters  by  a  winding  way  made  by  earthquake  and 
art  in  its  readily  yielding,  disintegrated  sides  ;  and 
there  at  the  bottom  is  a  fine  covert  basin  of  water  for 
bathing,  with  a  beach  of  volcanic  sand,  defended  from 
the  outrageous  surf  by  a  barrier  of  lava-rock,  against 
which  the  sea  is  ever  thundering,  and  tossing  over  its 
giant  arms  and  briny  spray. 

The  top  of  the  cone,  in  olden  time  a  fort,  is  now  the 
dormitory  of  a  large  flock  of  sheep  and  goats,  which  you 
may  see  clambering  up  its  sides  every  evening,  and 
scampering  down  in  the  morning.  Sometimes  they 
get  tumbled  over  the  precipice  into  the  crater,  and  are 
pan  loa  i  Jca  make^  as  the  natives  say,  or  quite  used 
up  ;  that  is,  taught  in  the  same  way  that  Cowper  says 
he  taught  the  viper  in  his  Colubriad  : 

With  outstretched  hoe  I  slew  him  at  the  door, 
,    And  taught  him  never  to  come  there  no  more. 

In  clear  weather,  a  fine  view  is  obtained  from  Hana 
to  the  southeast,  across  the  channel,  of  the  broad-back 
ed  Island  of  Hawaii,  distant  about  thirty  miles.  Its 
three  great  pyramids,  or  more  properly  domes,  of  Mau- 
na  Kea  on  the  east,  Mauna  Loa  on  the  south,  and  Mau- 
na  Hualalai  on  the  west,  loom  up  magnificently  in  the 
rising  or  setting  sun. 

We  were  intending  to  have  gone  across  by  canoe, 


151 


to  see  again  the  mission  family  at  Kohala,  and  thence 
over  to  "Waimea  by  land,  to  embark  in  a  schooner 
from  Kawaihae  either  for  Lahaina  or  Oahu.  But  the 
sea  is  not  calm  enough  for  natives  to  venture,  and 
may  not  be  for  several  weeks.  We  purpose,  therefore, 
to  return  to  "Wailuku  by  a  route  yet  unexplored  by 
white  men,  through  the  colossal  crater  of  Hale-a-ka-la, 
or  the  House  of  the  Sun.  The  Palace  of  the  Sun, 
therefore,  we  may  next  enter,  in  order  to  learn  what 
rarities  in  furniture  and  equipage  are  to  be  found 
there, 

"  Right  against  the  eastern  gate, 
Where  the  great  sun  begins  his  state ; 
Robed  in  flames,  and  amber  bright, 
The  clouds  in  thousand  liveries  dight." 


152  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH    ISLANDS. 


CHAPTER   VII. 

ADVENTURE,    ESCAPE,    AND    ARRIVAL    AT    MOLOKAI. 

HE  that  in  venturous  barks  hath  been 

A  wanderer  on  the  deep, 
Can  tell  of  many  an  awful  scene, 

Where  storms  forever  sweep. 
0  God !  thy  name  they  well  may  praise 

Who  to  the  deep  go  down, 
And  trace  the  wonders  of  thy  ways, 

Where  rocks  and  billows  frown  ! 

MRS.  HEMANS. 

We  embark  in  the  double  canoe — Sudden  catastrophe — Men  swept  overboard — A 
special  providence — How  we  are  saved — A  traveller's  hymn — Emotions  of  gratitude 
and  impulses  of  obedience — Behavior  of  the  natives — Effect  of  familiarity  with 
danger— Remark  of  Butler— The  psalm  of  life— The  fatal  sequel  of  another  disas 
ter—Conflict  with  the  sharks— They  win  the  day— The  raft  rises— Few  escape— We 
gain  the  reef— Lagoons  for  fish— How  to  make  abstract  numbers  concrete— Reefs 
described — Spiritual  analogies  and  lessons  derived — Rules  for  the  navigator — The 
Divine  Pilot — Ocean  of  futurity — Site  of  the  Molokai  Mission — Head-quarters  of 
^Eolus — A  missionary's  grapery — The  two  vineyards,  natural  and  moral — Division  of 
labor — Church  and  school — Industrial  enterprise — The  maids  of  Molokai — Native 
costume  versus  the  foreign — Court  fashion  and  rules  of  dress — The  queen's  way  of 
conformity— Criticism  on  the  fashionable  habiliments  of  the  sex— Honest  remon 
strance  and  satire  by  Dana. 

A  CHANGE  in  my  route  little  expected,  finds  me  at 
another  island,  seventy  miles  by  canoe  from  Hana,  in 
stead  of  ranging  through  the  crater  of  Kale-a-ka-la. 
To  Him,  whose  unseen  mighty  arm  defends  and  up- 
•  holds  us,  when  we  can  take  no  care  of  ourselves,  be 
all  the  praise  that  our  grave  has  not  been  made  upon 
the  coral  bottom  of  the  deep,  between  Molokai  and 
Maui. 


SUDDEN    CATASTROPHE MEN    OVERBOARD.  153 

We  left  liana  about  half  past  seven  in  the  morning, 
with  nine  men,  in  the  large  double-canoe  belonging  to 
the  Molokai  missionary  station.  The  wind  was  very 
strong,  nearly  aft,  and  the  canoes  light,  so  that  with 
main-sail,  and  a  kind  of  fore-stay-sail,  we  shot  around 
the  windward  side  of  East  Maui  with  great  swiftness, 
admiring  the  numerous  cascades  that  leap  into  the 
ocean  from  those  precipitous  lava  cliffs. 

When,  however,  we  had  encompassed  the  island  to 
the  point  of  departure  for  Molokai,  and  were  about 
one-third  of  the  way  across  the  channel,  or  six  miles 
from  land  on  either  side,  so  tremendous  a  wave  and 
gust  of  wind  struck  our  canoes  as  nearly  to  capsize 
them,  throwing  the  windward  canoe  almost  o^t  of  wa 
ter,  and  the  leeward  under,  and  instantly  carrying 
three  men  overboard  from  my  side. 

Though  the  waves  had  been  all  along  very  high,  and 
frequently  breaking  over  the  forward  part  of  the  ca 
noes,  so  as  to  keep  the  men  bailing,  yet,  from  confi 
dence  in  the  skill  of  the  natives,  I  did  not  apprehend 
much  danger ;  and,  having  been  very  sea-sick,  was 
dozing  at  the  moment  of  the  disaster,  one  hand  being 
made  fast  to  a  rope  and  the  frame- work  of  a  mat-screen 
that  was  pnt  np  against  the  wind,  the  other  arm  around 
my  life-preserver. 

Alarmed  by  the  shock  and  cry  of  the  natives,  and 
a  dash  of  salt  water,  I  opened  my  eyes  upon  the  scene 
of  disaster  just  as  the  men  were  rolling  off  before  me 
into  the  billowy  deep.  I  have  seldom  or  never  looked 
danger  so  full  in  the  face — 


-154:  LIFE  IN  TUP:  SANDWICH  ISLANDS. 

• 

Danger,  whose  limbs  of  giant  mould 
What  mortal  eye  can  fixed  behold  ? 

By  instinctively  catching  with  my  loose  hand  to  the 
plank  that  constitutes  the  raised  platform  between  the 
canoes,  the  life-preserver  slipped  from  me  after  the 
men,  but  I  was  enabled  to  hold  on  till  the  canoes 
nearly  regained  their  equilibrium,  in  the  trough  of  the 
towering  wave.  It  was  unaccountable,  except  on  the 
ground  .of  that  Special  Providence  which  Scripture 
and  experience  unite  in  proving,  that  we  were  not  irre 
coverably  swamped  and  lost,  and  our  canoes  torn  asun 
der.  Our  deliverance  surely  was  not  owing  to  the  bub 
ble  that  bore  us,  for  its  thin  sides  would  have  burst  but 
for  the  bands  of  the  Almighty,  and  left  us  helpless 

To  sink  into  the  depths  with  bubbling  groan, 
Without  a  grave,  unknelled,  uncoffined,  and  unknown. 

But,  in  God's  goodness,  something  better  was  before 
us.  Our  men  quickly  rallied  from  the  first  stunning  of 
surprise  and  terror ;  the  wrinkled  and  bronzed  old  na 
tive,  our  captain,  acquitted  himself  nobly  after  his  first 
fearful  AUWE,  a  howl  of  lamentation  and  terror  peculiar 
to  Hawaiians,  which  no  one  that  has  once  heard  ever 
forgets.  Little  as  I  could  say  to  them  in  their  own 
tongue,  that  little  was  cheering,  and  my  hands  I  could 
use  for  bailing. 

Sails  and  mast  were  soon  taken  down ;  the  canoe, 
sunk  nearly  to  the  water's  edge,  was  ho ve-to  and  light 
ened  of  its  load  of  water,  and  two  of  the  missing 


PROVIDENTIAL   ESCAPE— NATIVES5   GRATITUDE.      155 

men  soon  got  aboard,  through  their  matchless  skill 
in  swimming.  But  we  had  gone  so  far  to  lee 
ward  of  one  of  them,  that  it  was  good  part  of  an 
hour  before  we  could  work  up  to  him  against  the 
heavy  sea. 

At  length,  however,  the  men  tied  all  the  rope  in  the 
canoe  to  one  of  the  light  wili-wili  rollers,  and  one  of 
them  launched  out  with  it  to  meet  the  struggling 
swimmer ;  and  they  were  soon  both  safe  aboard,  ex 
claiming  upon  ihepomaifcai  o  Tee  akua  (the  goodness  of 
God)  in  their  deliverance.  In  fifteen  or  twenty  minutes 
more,  the  life-preserver  was  recovered,  and  a  book 
which  I  had  supposed  lost,  was  found  in  the  bosom  of 
one  of  the  men  that  had  been  overboard,  he  having 
caught  and  kept  it  there  all  the  while  he  had  been  in 
the  water.  I  shall  keep  it  as  a  prized  memorial  of  this 
narrow  escape. 

The  canoe  being  got  under  way  again  with  diminish 
ed  canvas,  two  hours  more  of  anxious*  sailing,  with  a 
boisterous  wind  and  heavy  sea,  brought  us  to  an  opening 
in  the  coral  reef  which  extends  along  the  inward  side 
of  the  island ;  and  I  breathed  more  freely  as  we  ran 
through  the  surf,  and  swept  into  comparatively  still 
water,  where  we  rah  before  the  wind  again  for  ten  miles 
with  great  velocity,  till  we  reached  the  station,  gladly 
greeted  by  friends  that  had  been  feeling  no  little  anx 
iety  on  our  behalf. 

It  was  only  He  who  commandeth  and  lifteth  the 
stormy  waves,  who  holdeth  the  winds  in  Jiis  fists,  wlio 
measureth  the  waters  in  the  hollow  of  his  hand,  that 


156  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH    ISLANDS. 

brought  us  through  peril  to  dry  land,  in  those  frail  hol 
lowed  logs. 

'Tis  to  His  power  we  owe  our  breath, 
And  all  our  near  escapes  from  death. 

I  never  repeated  those  lines  of  Addison  and  Wesley 
with  more  significancy — 

When  by  the  dreadful  tempest  borne, 

High  on  the  broken  wave  ; 
They  know  Thou  art  not  slow  to  hear, 

Nor  impotent  to  save. 

When  passing  through  the  watery  deep, 

I  ask  in  faith  His  promised  aid, 
The  waves  an  awful  distance  keep, 

And  shrink  from  my  devoted  head. 
Since  Thou  hast  bid  me  come  to  thee, 
.  Good  as  Thou  art,  and  strong  to  save  ; 
I'll  walk  o'er  life's  tempestuous  sea, 

Upborne  by  the  unyielding  wave. 
Dauntless,  though  rocks  of  pride  be  near, 
And  yawning  whirlpools  of  despair. 

To  sing  rightly  "  The  Traveller's  Hymn,"  one  needs 
to  have  met  with  "  hair-breadth  escapes  by  flood  and 
field,"  to  have  seen  the  kind  interpositions  of  Provi 
dence,  and  to  have  felt  underneath  him  in  peril  the 
arm  of  Omnipotence.  We  meet  with  a  thousand  de 
liverances  that  we  never  know  of,  from  straits  and 
perils  that  we  do  not  see,  both  in  our  natural  life,  and 
in  the  moral  and  religious  life  of  our  souls  as  pilgrims 
through  a  world  of  shipwrecks,  temptations,  pit-falls, 
and  snares.  What  watchful,  recollective  pilgrim  is 
there,  that  in  the  observance  of  providences,  and  the 


LESSONS    TO    BE    LEARNED   FJROM   DANGER.  157 

habitual  review  of  life,  is  not  often  singing  with  thank 
fulness  and  grace  in  his  heart, — 

A  thousand  deaths  I  daily  'scape, 

I  pass  by  many  a  pit ; 
I  sail  by  many  dreadful  rocks, 

Where  others  have  been  split. 
Whilst  others  in  God's  prisons  fie, 

Bound  with  affliction's  chains, 
I  walk  at  large,  secure  and  free 

From  sickness  and  from  pains. 

One  such  preservation  from  palpable  peril  as  that 
we  have  now  experience!,  makes  the  full  heart  feel 
deeply  God's  goodness,  and  if  not  sadly  hardened,  or 
far  out  of  the  way,  to  gush  with  unusual  emotions  of 
gratitude  and  impulses  of  obedience. 

It  is  good  for  a  Christian,  or  any  man,  to  be  arrested 
and  made  thoughtful  by  such  exposures  and  providen 
tial  deliverances,  that  Tie  may  consider  his  latter  end, 
and  tlie  measure  of  his  days,  what  it  is,  to  know 
how  frail  I  am,  and  to  ask  himself,  Am  I  ready  for 
the  surprise  of  death  ?  Out  of  sight,  it  is  too  apt  with 
us  to  be  put  of  mind ;  and  a  man  needs  to  be  often 
met  with  startling  providences,  in  order  to  make  him 
realize  his  own  exposedness,  and  to  enforce  the  practi 
cal  necessity  of  being  ready  ;  for  let  death  once  come, 
and, 

Ready  or  not  ready — no  delay  j . 
Forth  to  his  Judge's  bar  he  must  away. 

And  yet  it  is  a  melancholy  fact,  account  for  it  as  we 


158  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

may,  that  familiarity  with  danger  and  death  seldom 
produces  a  softening,  monitory  effect,  except  upon  the 
mind  of  a  Christian,  but  rather  induces  a  moral  hardi 
ness  and  effrontery,  that  steels  the  mind  against  lessons 
of  mortality,  and  casts  an  ominous  gloom  upon  the 
prospects  of  the  soul. 

There  is  a  remark  of  Butler  in  the  "Analogy,"  which 
I  have  never  seen  exemplified  except  in  the  case  of 
those,  whose  habits  have  been  formed  as  the  children  of 
God.  It  is  this — that  at  the  same  time  our  own  expo 
sure  to  danger,  and  the  daily  instances  of  men's  dying 
around  us,  give  us  daily  a  les*  sensible  passive  feeling 
or  apprehension  of  our  own  mortality,  such  instances 
greatly  contribute  to  the  strengthening  a  practical  re 
gard  for  it  in  serious  minds ;  that  is,  to  forming  a  habit 
of  acting  with  a  constant  view  to  it. 

Let  me  never  get  so  obtusely  used  to  danger  and 
death,  as  not  to  mind  it;  but  may  I  always  live  looking 
upward  and  recollective, 

"  As  ever  in  my  great  Task-master's  eye  ;" 

calmly  self-possessed  and  ready,  through  faith  in  my 
Lord,  for  his  summons,  whether  it  shall  come  in  sun 
shine  or  storm,  in  a  form  grateful  or  appalling  to  the 
natural  man.  Death  will  then  have  no  sting,  the 
grave  no  victory.  And  a  sepulchre  in  the  sea,  till  the 
sea  give  up  its  dead,  will  be  as  safe  and  easy,  as  to  die 
among  kindred,  and  lie  peacefully  under  the  sod,  till 
the  morning  of  the  resurrection. 

A  true  poet  has  interpreted,  in  the  Psalm  of  Life, 


SAD   STORY    OF.  ANOTHER   DISASTER.  159 

what  the  heart  of  the  young  man  said  to  the  Psalmist, 
and  what  is  often  brought  to  remembrance  by  the  es 
capes  and  vicissitudes  of  our  mortal  pilgrimage : 


And  thou,  too,  whosoe'r  thou  art, 

That  readest  this  brief  psalm, 
As  one  by  one  thy  hopes  depart, 

Be  resolute  and  calm. 
O  fear  not  in  a  world  like  this, 

And  thou  shalt  know  ere  long — 
Know  how  sublime  a  thing  it  is 

To  suffer  and  be  strong. 
Let  me,  then,  be  up  and  doing 

With  a  heart  for  any  fate  ; 
Still  achieving,  still  pursuing, 

Learn  to  labor  and  to  wait. 


The  channel  we  have  crossed,  and  all  the  passages 
between  these  Islands,  are  often  the  scene  of  disasters 
in  native  canoes.  A  Frenchman  attached  to  the 
French  sloop  of  war  Bonite,  on  a  visit  to  this  Archi 
pelago  in  1836,  tells  the  following  story,  which  we  have 
heard  for  substance  also  from  a  missionary : 

One  day,  a  native,  accompanied  by  his  wife  and  two 
small  children,  put  off  in  a  canoe  from  the  northern 
point  of  Lanai,  with  the  design  of  landing  on  the 
southern  part  of  Molokai,  a  distance  of  seven  or  eight 
leagues.  When  he  had  put  to  sea  the  weather  was 
fine ;  but  suddenly  a  dark  cloud  blackened  the  sky,  a 
gale  commenced,  and  the  sea  became  very  rough.  For 
a  long  time  the  skill  with  which  the  Islander  guided 
his  frail  skiff  in  the  midst  of  the  waves  preserved  it 


160  LIFE    IN    THE    SANDWICH    ISLANDS. 

from  being  wrecked ;  but  at  length  a  sea  broke  the  out 
rigger,  and  the  canoe  capsized. 

The  children  were  too  young  to  be  able  to  swim. 
He  seized  them,  at  the  moment  when  the  sea  was  about 
to  swallow  them  up,  and  placed  them  upon  the  canoe, 
which,  being  made  of  light  wood,  floated,  although 
bottom  up.  Then  he  and  his  wife,  swimming  at  its 
side,  undertook  to  urge  it  along  to  the  nearest  shore ; 
they  being  then  near  the  middle  of  the  channel. 

After  many  hours  of  fatiguing  exertion,  and  when 
they  had  almost  reached  the  shore,  they  met  a  very 
strong  current,  which  urged  them  back  into  the  open 
sea.  To  struggle  against  the  force  of  the  current  would 
have  been  to  expose  themselves  to  certain  death  ;  they 
therefore  decided  to  direct  their  canoe  towards  another 
part  of  the  island.  Yet  the  night  came  on,  and  they 
began  to  feel  cold. 

The  woman  was  the  first  to  complain  of  fatigue ;  but 
the  desire  so  natural  to  escape  death,  and  the  sight  of 
her  children,  whose  life  depended  upon 'the  preserva 
tion  of  her  own,  gave  her  courage,  and  she  continued 
to  'swim  near  her  husband,  pushing  the  canoe  before 
them.  Soon  the  poor  children  became  fatigued ;  for 
they  could  not  long  cling  to  the  round  and  polished 
surface  of  the  canoe  without  a  continued  effort,  and 
they  were  also  chilled  with  cold.  At  length  they  re 
linquished  their  hold,  and  fell,  one  after  the  other,  into 
the  sea. 

Their  parents  seized  them  and  placed  them  again 
upon  the  canoe,  striving,  at  the  same  time,  to  encour- 


PARENTAL    LOVE AFFECTING    ISSUE.  161 

age  them.  But  their  little  hands  could  no  longer  re 
tain  their  grasp,  and  the  sea  engulfed  them  for  the 
third  time.  It  was  no  longer  necessary  to  think  of 
preserving  the  canoe ;  the  parents,  therefore,  took  the 
children  upon  their  backs  and  swam  towards  the  land, 
which  was  scarcely  visible  in  the  darkness. 

An  hour  later,  the  woman  discovered  that  the  child 
which  she  was  carrying  was  dead,  and  she  broke  forth 
into  bitter  lamentations.  In  vain  did  her  husband  per 
suade  her  to  abandon  the  child  and  to  take  courage, 
pointing  out  to  her  the  shore,  which  now  seemed  near. 
The  unhappy  mother  would  not  separate  from  her  life 
less  child,  and  she  continued  to  carry  her  precious  bur 
den  until  she  felt  her  strength  nearly  exhausted,  when 
she  told  her  husband  that  she  must  die,  for  she  could 
swim  no  further  ;  yet,  notwithstanding  her  husband's 
earnest  entreaties,  she  would  not  relinquish  her  bur 
den. 

He  then  endeavored  to  sustain  her  with  one  hand 
and  to  swim  with  the  other ;  but  nature  could  not  pro 
long  the  struggle,  and  she  disappeared  beneath  the 
waves.  The  husband  continued  to  swim  on  in  sad 
ness,  the  desire  to  save  his  surviving  child  alone  keep 
ing  him  up.  At  length,  after  many  hours  of  unspeak 
able  hardship,  and  when  almost  dead  himself,  he 
reached  the  shore.  But  it  was  only  to  fall  senseless 
upon  the  sand,  when  he  discovered  that  the  darling 
boy  on  his  back  was  dead. 

In  this  condition  he  was  discovered  at  daybreak  by 
Home  fishermen,  lying  on  the  sand.  By  their  atten- 


162  LIFE    IN    THE    SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

tions  he  revived,  but  died  soon  after  from  grief  and 
Buffering,  having  been  in  the  water  eighteen  hours. 

It  was  only  a  few  years  ago,  in  a  part  of  Polynesia 
further  south  than  these  Islands,  that  a  company  of 
chiefs  and  people,  thirty-two  in  number,  were  passing 
from  one  island  to  another,  in  a  large  double-canoe  like 
that  in  which  we  have  just  escaped  such  peril.  They, 
too,  were  overtaken  by  a  wind,  the  violence  of  which 
tore  their  canoes  from  the  horizontal  or  curved  spars 
by  which  it  wdll  be  remembered,  in  our  previous  de 
scription*  of  a  double-canoe,  that  I  have  said  they  are 
united.  It  was  in  vain  to  endeavor  to  right  them  or 
empty  out  the  water,  for,  without  out-riggers,  they 
could  not  prevent  their  incessant  overturning. 

As  their  only  resource,  therefore,  they  collected  the 
scattered  spars  and  boards,  and,  with  the  help  of  cord 
taken  from  the  wreck,  they  constructed  a  raft,  on  which 
it  was  barely  hoped  they  might  drift  to  land.  The 
weight  of  the  whole  number,  however,  who  were  col 
lected  on  the  raft  or  hanging  to  it,  was  now  so  great  as 
to  sink  it  below  the  surface,  so  that  those  upon  it  often 
stood  above  their  knees  in  water.  Hence  of  course 
they  made  little  progress  towards  land,  and  they  soon 
became  exhausted  with  fatigue  and  hunger. 

In  this  defenceless  condition  they  were  attacked  by 
a  number  of  prowling  sharks.  One  after  another  was 
seized  and  devoured  by  the  rapacious  monsters,  or 


*  Island  World  of  the  Pacific,  p.  248. 


THE   FISH-PONDS   OF   MOLOKAI.  163 

pulled  away  by  them,  until  three  or  four  only  remain 
ed  ;  and  the  raft,  lightened  of  its  load,  rose  to  the  sur 
face  of  the  water,  and  put  them  beyond  the  reach  of 
the  terrible  jaws  of  their  destroyers.  Delivered  thus 
from  the  sharks,  the  few  that  survived  were  providen 
tially  carried  ashore  by  the  current  and  tide,  to  tell  of 
the  dreadful  deaths  of  their  fellow-voyagers. 

Ourselves  happily  saved  from  such  a  conflict,  and  no 
lives  lost  in  our  disaster,  we  have  been  circumnaviga 
ting  the  Island  of  Molokai,  and  with  comparative  safe 
ty,  on  the  reef;  observing  how  the  coast  is  all  along 
lined  with  immense  fish-ponds  of  salt  water,  to  the  ex 
tent  of  twenty-five  or  thirty  miles.  These  are  made  by 
merely  walling-in  many  acres  of  the  coral  reef  on  the 
seaward  side,  and  then  stocking  them  with  spawn  and 
little  fish. 

Beyond  these  the  reef  extends  still  half  a  mile  or 
more,  with  its  shallow  whitened  water,  and  then  there 
is  a  crest  of  foaming  breakers,  made  by  the  impetuous 
waves  striking  upon  the  outside  of  the  reef.  Beyond, 
the  white  caps  foam  and  glisten  all  the  way  across  the 
boisterous  channel,  ten  miles  wide,  to  Maui ;  which  yo*u 
must  pass  in  a  frail  canoe,  in  order  to  get  again  into  the 
range  of  the  world. 

The  lagoons  for  fish  were  made  under  the  despotism 
of  ancient  times,  and  are  capable  of  affording  a  very 
great  supply.  When  Eev.  Lorrin  Andrews  was  teach 
ing  arithmetic  to  the  first  class  at  Lahainaluna,  there 
was  one  man  studying  the  notation  table  rather  bright- 


164  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

er  than  the  rest,  and  of  a  practical  turn,  who  could  not 
see,  for  the  life  of  him,  what  was  the  use  of  such  high 
numbers,  over  a  hundred  thousand  or  million.  Up  to 
this  he  could  get  along  very  well,  making  them  in 
some  way  concrete. 

But  one  day,  as  he  was  reckoning  units,  tens,  hun 
dreds,  thousands,  &c.,  "Stop,"  said  he,  "I've  got  it:  it  - 
will  do  for  the  head-man  of  Molokai  to  reckon  his  fish 
by."  His  millions  had  become  concrete,  and  notation 
was  ever  after  as  plain  sailing  as  through  the  smooth 
water  on  the  reef  of  his  native  Molokai. 

This  reef  has  furnished  me  an  instructive  analogy, 
which  I  cannot  forbear  presenting.  When  we  stand 
upon  the  shore,  on  a  level  with  the  reef,  and  look  far 
away  seaward,  over  the  water  with  which  it  is  covered 
like  a  vast  lagoon,  we  cannot  tell  what  are  its  dimen 
sions  or  limits,  where  there  is  deep  water  or  where  it  is 
shoal.  But  when  we  climb  one  of  the  steep  mountain 
sides,  and  look  down  from1  that  commanding  elevation 
upon  the  wide  reef,  and  the  still  wider  boundless  ocean 
all  around,  it  is  then  that  we  can  see  clearly  where  the 
reef  begins  and  where  it  ends ;  where  the  surf  breaks, 
and  where  the  blue  sea-line  begins  ;  and  we  can  distin 
guish  even  the  different  hues  of  separate  fields  of  cor 
al,  and  the  outline  thereof  below  the  surface,  through 
the  different  shades  of  the  water  in  which  it  is 
all  hid. 

Just  so,  in  a  whale-ship  at  sea,  the  man  at  the  main 
top-mast  head  is  always  the  first  to  discover  when  the 
ship  is  entering  shoal  water,  from  a  change  in  the  color 


NATURAL   AND   SPIRITUAL   ANALOGIES.  165 

or  shade  of  the  all-surrounding  fluid,  only  discoverable 
at  first  from  that  great  height. 

And  in  illustration  of  the  same  it  may  be  added,  that 
once,  on  a  calm,  clear  day,  when  at  a  point  twelve  hun 
dred  feet  above  the  level  of  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  on 
the  top  of  the  Eock  of  Gibraltar,  I  recollect  to  have 
seen  at  its  base  some  Genoese  fishermen  dragging  their 
nets,  and  exposing  their  persons  in  the  water,  all  un 
aware  of  the  dangerous  vicinity  of  three  huge  prowl 
ing  sharks,  which  could  be  seen  with  wonderful  clear 
ness  through  our  spy-glass,  swimming  around  the  rocks 
underneath,  and  seeming  to  us  every  moment  as  if 
they  would  dart  up  and  seize  the  unsuspecting  fisher 
men. 

Now  the  spiritual  lesson  we  have  learned  from  all 
is  this  :  that,  in  order  to  have  a  just  view  of  the  trials, 
and  temptations,  and  perils  of  probation  ;  of  the  points 
of  safety  and  of  danger,  and  the  limits  of  each,  and  the 
lines  where  they  meet,  and  the  gracious  providences 
that  are  ever  stepping  between  us  and  destruction,  we 
must  stand  on  the  eminence  of  Mount  Zion  above. 
From  the  top  of  some  commanding  cliff  in  Eternity 
we  must  be  able  to  look  backward  over  the  troubled 
sea  of  this  life,  and  onward  upon  the  calm  ocean  of 
Eternity  into  which  it  has  passed,  before  we  can  judge 
justly  of  its  hardships  and  encounters,  and  the  Divine 
meaning  of  them,  or  perceive  the  greatness  and  good 
ness  of  our  often  miraculous  deliverances,  or  estimate 
aright  the  skill  and  wisdom  of  the  Divine  providential 
Pilot  that  never  quits  our  helm. 


166  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

Must  we  not,  then,  quietly  leave  the  management  of 
these  precious  barks  of  immortality  to  infinite  Wisdom 
and  Love,  navigating  through  faith  alone,  by  quick 
sand  and  breakers  ?  What  else,  indeed,  can  we  do, 
when  the  Unknown  Future  to  which  we  are  bound,  is  to 
all  men  what  the  Equatorial  Coast  of  the  Brazils  is  to 
the  mariner,  who  makes  his  land-fall  just  at  night,  in 
the  rain  and  howling  wind,  and  sees  the  dense  clouds 
gathering  heavier  and  blacker,  and  the  lurid  lightnings 
flashing  with  louder  thunder  over  those  vast  regions 
dimly  before  him,  somewhere  in  the  deep  shades  of 
which  he  is  to  find  a  port  ? 

We  must  wait  till  the  morning  of  the  resurrection 
for  the  clouds  to  clear  away  and  the  sun  to  shine,  sail 
ing,  meanwhile,  by  faith's  chronometer,  just  as  that 
navigator  must  lay-to  and  stand  off,  or  go  sounding  on 
his  dim  and  perilous  way  by  lead  and  line,  till  the 
night  and  storm  are  past,  and  sunlight  opens  to  him 
the  glories  of  Nature  in  the  tropics,  even  as  the  resur 
rection  dawn  will  to  the  faithful  soul  the  glories  of 
Eternity. 

That  glorious  but  now  unknown  world  of  the  future, 
along  with  its  other  revelations,  wrill  disclose  the  good 
that  is  now  doing  by  the  Missionary  Station  planted  at 
Molokai.  It  is  very  near  the  sea,  on  the  level  land  be 
tween  the  shore  and  the  mountains.  This  interval  of 
arable  land  is  from  one-quarter  to  half  a  mile  wide. 
Valleys  that  might  be  made  fertile,  run  up  further  be 
tween  the  hills,  in  one  of -which  a  better  site  than  the 
present  was  chosen,  and  buildings  commenced.  But 


STRENGTH    OF    THE   MOLOKAI   TRADE-WINDS.  167 

they  were  torn  down  by  a  creature  of  Governor  Adams, 
to  whom  the  land  belonged.  It  would  have  been  far 
preferable  to  the  present  spot,  as  further  removed  from, 
and  yet  giving  a  much  finer  view  of,  the  sea,  and  as 
being  partially  screened,  also,  by  the  hill-side  from  vio 
lent  blasts. 

If  Hawaiian  mythology  had  had  a  god  of  the  winds, 
his  excellency  would  certainly  have  been  assigned  to 
Molokai,  where  the  trades  could  have  rocked  him  from 
New  Year's  morn  to  Christinas  eve.  He  must  have 
had  his  table  in  some  one  of  those  huge  holes  to  wind 
ward,  or  he  could  hardly  eat  the  meat  of  his  sacrifices 
before  it  would  have  "been  blown  out  of  his  teeth. 
The  trades  rush  by  here  as  if  they  had  just  broke 
prison  from  the  cave  of  JEolus,  and  were  flying  away 
at  the  top  of  their  speed,  afraid  of  being  caught. 

For  a  man  to  keep  his  breath,  or  his  hat  on,  in  riding 
against  them,  he  must  have  a  long  wind  and  little 
head  ;  two  conditions  that  so  seldom  meet  in  the  same 
person,  that  most  who  come  here  at  first  lose  both. 
And  it  is  well  if  their  patience  does  not  go,  too, 
in  waiting,  wind-bound,  a  time  to  get  away.  Pleas 
ant  society  and  hospitable  fare  will,  however,  gen 
erally  prove  a  good  antidote  and  hold-fast  to  the 
latter. 

Notwithstanding  the  uniformly  high  winds,  Eev.  Mr. 
Hitchcock,  one  of  the  missionaries,  has  succeeded  in 
training  a  fine  grapery,  by  erecting  a  high  screen  to 
wards  the  northeast.  We  are  now  luxuriating  on  the 


168  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

delicious  fruit,  whose  flavor  is  almost  equal  to  the  uvas 
of  Andalusia.  Wine  is  made  from  it  to  supply  the 
communion-table ;  or,  rather,  an  unfermented  syrup, 
which,  diluted  with  water,  forms  a  more  fitting  ele 
ment  for  the  Supper  than  either  alcoholic  wine  or  sim 
ple  water. 

The  number  of  communicants  here  is  somewhat  over 
six  hundred,  in  a  population  roughly  estimated  at  about 
five  thousand.  They  have  the  best-made  meeting-house 
(excepting  the  Bingham  stone  church  in  Honolulu)  that 
I  have  seen  in  Hawaii-nei.  The  material  is  stone,  three 
long  windows  in  each  of  the  two  sides,  doors  in  the 
two  ends  and  side  facing  the  sea,  a  gallery  in  the  end 
opposite  to  the  neatly  made  pulpit,  for  the  choir,  with 
two  small  windows  for  light  and  ventilation. 

The  walls  are  one  hundred  feet  long,  fifty  wide,  and 
eighteen  high  to  the  ceiling.  The  roof  is  of  thatch, 
and  in  the  old  Dutch  style,  thus  saving  gable-ends, 
which  it  is  not  easy  here  to  make  secure,  and  at  the  same 
time  look  well,  of  stone. 

In  the  process  of  building  it,  the  people  have  con 
tributed  five  hundred  dollars  in  cash,  besides  getting 
the  timber  from  the  mountain,  procuring  and  burning 
the  lime,  plastering  the  walls,  and  putting  on  the 
roof. 

In  June  of  1850,  there  was  acknowledged  from  the 
Molokai  church,'54'  by  the  Treasurer  of  the  American 


*  The  entire  contributions  on  the  Island  of  Molokai,  for  the  year 
1850,  are  as  follows  : — 


CONTRIBUTIONS    OF   THE    MOLOXAI    CHURCH.  169 

Board,  the  sum  of  five  hundred  and  seventeen  dollars 
and  fifty  cents,  to  constitute  several  persons  in  America 

Support  of  Pastor $420  00 

Kohala  Meeting-house 102  00 

Monthly  Concert 501  50 

French  Protestant  Missions 23  00 

Relief  of  the  Poor 40  00 

Church-bell  at  Kalaupapa 166  00 

Repairing  Meeting-house -. 120  00 

Materials  and  Labor,  at  cash 400  00 

Repairing  Pastor's  House 25  00 

$1,797  50 

Here  is  a  lesson  in  liberality  that  deserves  to  be  studied.  It  -will  as 
sist  in  doing  this,  to  know  that  the  population  of  the  island  is  less  than 
3500,  and  to  call  to  mind  how  few  years  it  is  since  they  began  to 
emerge  from  the  deep  poverty  of  barbarism.  Look  now  at  the  vari 
ous  items.  Consider  especially  that  noble  one  for  rebuilding  the  pros 
trate  house  of  worship  at  Kohala,  and  also  the  avails  of  the  monthly 
concert.  Here  are  respects  in  which  we  may  bring  ourselves  into 
comparison  with  them;  for  the  appeal  in  behalf  of  that  afflicted  church 
reached  us,  and  what  we  gave  the  last  year  at  the  concert  is  also  on 
record.  But  let  us  not  content  ourselves  with  mere  admiration  of  their 
"  good  works,"  but,  "  provoked  by  their  zeal,"  let  us  "  sow  bountifully," 
that  He  who  "  loveth  a  cheerful  giver"  may  in  turn  "  make  all  grace 
a.bound  towards  us." 

The  whole  amount  of '  contributions  at  all  the  Islands  for  the  year 
1850,  is  $7213.14.  This  includes  $237  for  the  French  Protestant  Mis 
sion.  The  most  of  it  given  from  "  their  deep  poverty."  Truly,  "  the 
grace  of  God  bestowed  on  them"  has  "  abounded  unto  the  riches  of 
their  liberality."  See  how  expansive  is  their  benevolence  ;  how  heart 
ily  they  responded  to  that  appeal  from  France,  thus  showing  their 
ability  to  distinguish  between  the  nation  that  would  crush  them,  and 
those  in  that  nation  who  were  one  with  them  in  Christ ;  yet  not  the 
less  giving  an  example  of  a  noble  superiority  to  national  prejudices. 
At  the  same  time,  let  it  be  observed  that  they  do  not  forget  to  "  pro 
vide  for  their  own ;"  and  that  they  open  their  hand  liberally  to  assist 
their  pastors  in  the  calamities  that  befall  them. — Journal  of  Missions, 
March,  1851. 

8 


170  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

and  the  Sandwich  Islands  members  of  the  American 
Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions. 

The  congregation  here  is  ordinarily  five  or  six  hun 
dred,  well  dressed  and  decorous  in  behavior,  seated 
generally  on  rude  settees.  The  most  interesting  and 
hopeful  part  of  the  congregation  are,  as  always,  the 
children  and  youth,  of  whom  the  proportion  here  is 
probably  greater  than  in  any  other  field  in  these  Isl 
ands.  There  are  twelve  hundred  in  the  day-schools, 
and  all  of  them  are  required  to  be  present  at  the  Sab 
bath-schools. 

At  the  Station  are  three  different  classes  on  the  Sab 
bath,  in  the  Ai  o  Tea  la,  or  Daily  Food :  children  in  the 
morning,  adults  at  noon,  and  a  class  of  unmarried 
young  persons  just  before  the  sermon  in  the  afternoon. 
The  singing  of  the  native  choir  is  very  respectable, 
without  any  help  from  the  pastor,  being  trained  by  a 
graduate  from  Lahainaluna. 

The  resident  missionaries  are  called  invalids,  but 
they  perform  an  amount  of  labor  (at  least  the  pastor) 
in  preaching,  pastoral  care,  and  supervision  of  schools, 
that  would  be  deemed  quite  enough  for  robust  well 
men  at  home. 

Miss  Brown  has  a  school  of  eight  or  ten  girls,  whom 
she  is  teaching  to  card  and  spin  cotton,  and  to  weave 
and  knit.*  It  is  hoped  they  will  learn  by  it  a  habit  of 


*  The  common  schools  of  Molokai  have  been  generally  organized  af 
ter  an  industrial  plan,  for  purposes  of  utility,  and  to  instil  the  principles 
and  habits  of  industry  in  Hawaiian  youth;  and  the  following  is  the 
substance  of  their  report  for  1850,  which  may  exemplify  what  is  doing 


RELATIVE   INTELLIGENCE   OF   HAWAIIAN  FEMALES.     171 

industry,  and  a  fondness  for  work,  so  as  not  to  be  will 
ing  hereafter  to  loll  and  to  lounge,  like  most  Ha 
waiian  women,  who,  in  civilization,  intelligence,  and 
all  the  proprieties  of  social  life,  are  far  below  the 
men. 

When  you  see  a  company  of  young  Hawaiian  girls, 
from  ten  to  fourteen,  with  bright,  sparkling  eyes,  faces 


by  practical  working  missionaries,  in  the  line  of  educational  and  social 
improvement  at  the  Heart  of  the  Pacific : 

The  schools  are  divided  into  male  and  female  departments.  The  fe 
male  department  meets  in  the  morning  for  regular  school  at  half  past 
eight,  and  continue  at  their  books  till  half  past  eleven.  At  twelve  the 
male  department  meets  for  the  same  purpose,  and  continue  at  their 
studies  till  three  P.  M.  During  the  afternoon,  the  girls,  under  lunaa 
chosen  by  themselves,  engage  in  light  suitable  work  for  those  who  wish 
to  employ  them,  and  at  prices  agreed  upon  between  the  lunas  and  the 
employer. 

This  money  is  kept  by  said  luna  till  the  end  of  the  quarter,  and  then 
equally  divided  among  the  members  composing  the  division. 

The  males,  on  the  contrary,  begin  work  at  daylight  and  work  till  about 
eleven,  when  the  first  bell  rings  for  them  to  prepare  for  school.  This 
plan  has  now  been  in  operation  several  years,  and,  it  is  thought,  with 
excellent  results. 

On  Molokni  are  929  scholars  in  all ;  from  these  deduct  for  Catholic 
scholars,  who  do  not  generally  have  a  working  department,  76,  leaves 
the  number  853.  These  853  scholars  have,  during  the  year  185<\  re 
ceived  for  their  labor  the  nice  sum,  in  cash,  of  $1556. 56^. 

Of  this  sum,  the  station  school  at  Kaluaaha  has  earned  $490.25. 
This  is  exclusive  of  sums  earned  by  the  scholars  in  their  own  time  after 
three  P.  M. 

The  number  of  scholars  at  Kaluaaha  is  206,  making  the  average  earn 
ing  of  each  child  in  the  school  $2.38  ;  but  if  we  take  from  that  number 
the  60  or  70  scholars  who  are  too  small  to  work,  we  shall  find  that  each 
working  scholar  has  really  earned  over  $3.25. 

The  76  Roman  Catholic  scholars  have  only  reported  $9.50  as  the  pro 
ceeds  of  their  labors. 


172  LIFE    IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

full  of  sportiveness  and  glee,  and  their  forms  expand 
ing  like  rose-buds,  you  wish  they  might  always  look  so, 
and  you  think  what  a  pity  it  is  they  should  ever  become 
the  gross,  sensual  creatures  that  so  many  of  them  turn 
into  in  a  few  years. 

There  is  needed  at  every  station,  to  operate  upon 
Hawaiian  females,  a  school  like  Mrs.  Coan's  at  Hilo, 
or  the  Female  Seminary  at  "Wailuku :  to  teach  them 
notions  of  propriety,  to  form  habits  of  industry,  and 
to  make  them  suitable  as  wives  and  mothers.  Multi 
ply  such  schools,  and  they  wrould  do  incomparably 
more  than  all  the  silly  orders  of  the  Cabinet  and  King 
for  the  ladies  to  appear  only  in  tight  dresses  and  cor 
sets. 

On  the  score  of  modesty  alone,  to  say  nothing  of  its 
economy  and  comfort,  the  present  dress  of  Hawaiian  fe 
males,  something  like  a  lady's  loose  morning-gown,  is 
both  decorous  and  comely.  The  hasty  rage  which  some 
foreigners  seem  to  have  at  once  to  Europeanize  and 
make  court-like  the  Hawaiian  government  and  dress, 
is,  we  cannot  help  saying,  alike  unwise  and  ridiculous. 
If  it  does  not  swamp  the  nation,  annihilate  whatever  is 
distinctively  Hawaiian,  and  give  paramount  ruinous  as 
cendency  to  foreign  interests  and  influence,  it  will  be 
strange. 

It  is  said  the  Queen  was  once  disciplined  in  the 
church  for  drinking  awa.  But  she  alleged,  on  trial, 
that  she  was  drinking  it  to  reduce  her  portly  person 
to  the  fit  of  the  tight  dress  prescribed  by  the  tyranny 
of  court-fashion. 


THE   MODERN    HABILIMENTS    OF    WOMAN. 

'Now  we  say,  "give  strait  jackets  to  maniacs,  and 
leave  corsets  and  small-clothes  to  the  rouged  harlots 
of  the  Opera ;  but  for  the  women  of  Hawaii,  both 
modesty  and  taste  would  be  less  offended  to  have 
them  resume  something  like  the  old  heathen  costume 
of  ihspau  and  kibei^  than  to  be  squeezed  into  the  garb 
of  Paris  belles. 

The  highest  authority  in  America  for  taste  and  pu 
rity  in  all  that  appertains  to  woman — to  woman  as  she 
is  and  woman  as  she  should  be — has  said  of  the  fash 
ionable  modern  habiliments  of  the  sex, — 


Your  dress  has  made  the  form  by  nature  given, 

Unlike  aught  ever  seen  in  earth  or  heaven. 

Where,  girl,  thy  flowing  motion,  easy  sweep, 

Like  waves  that  swing,  nor  break  the  glassy  deep  ? 

All  hard,  and  angular,  and  cased  in  steel ! 

And  is  it  human  ?     Can  it  breathe  and  feel  ? 

The  bosom,  beautiful  of  mould,  alas  ! 

Where,  now,  thy  pillow,  youth  ?     (But  let  it  pass.) 

And  shapes  in  freedom  lovely  ? — I  will  bear 

Distorted  forms,  leave  minds  but  free  and  fair. 

'Tis  all  alike  conventional :  the  mind 

Is  tortured  like  the  body,  cramped,  confined : 

A  thing  made  up,  by  rules  of  art,  for  life  ; 

Most  perfect,  when  with  nature  most  at  strife  : 

Till  the  strife  ceases,  and  the  thing  of  art, 

Forgetting  nature,  no  more  plays  a  part ; 

Sees  truth  in  the  factitious  ;• — pleasure's  slave — 

Its  drudge,  not  lord ;  in  trifles  only  grave. 

With  etiquette  for  virtue,  heart  subdued, 

The  right  betraying,  lest  you  should  be  rude  ; 

Excusing  wrong,  lest  you  be  thought  precise, 

In  morals  easy,  and  in  manners  nice  ; 

To  keep  in  with  the  world  your  only  end, 

And  with  the  world  to  censure  or  defend  ; 


LIFE   IN   THE    SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 


To  bend  to  it  each  passion,  thought,  desire  ; 

With  it  genteelly  cold,  or  all  on  fire, 

What  have  you  left  to  call  your  own,  I  pray  ? 

You  ask,  What  says  the  world,  and  that  obey  ; 

Where  singularity  alone  is  sin, 

Live  uncondemned,  yet  prostrate  all  within. 

You  educate  the  manners,  not  the  heart, 

And  morals  make  good  breeding  and  an  art. 

R.  H.  DANA.. 


Sandwich  Islands  Double  Canoe. 


THE  MOLOKAI  GARDENS  OF  CORAL.        175 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

THE  CORAL  MASONRY  AND  CORALS  OF  MOLOKAI  AND  OTHER 
PARTS  OF  THE  ISLAND  WORLD  OF  THE  PACIFIC. 

'"THERE,  in  the  furthest  deserts  of  the  Deep, 
The  coral  worm  its  architecture  vast 
Uprears,  and  new-made  islands  have  their  birth." 

Curious  work  of  Zoophytes— Sub-marine  gardens  described— Living  specimens  ex 
hibited—Letting  a  crab  out  of  prison— How  the  corals  grow— Theory  for  the  forma 
tion  of  a  coral  island — The  tumuli  of  a  buried  continent— Evidence  of  a  re-elevatory 
process — Geological  phenomena  not  accounted  for — Observations  of  Williams,  the 
martyr  of  Eromanga — Effect  of  electricity  in  precipitating  the  particles  of  lime  in 
sea-water — Instances  adduced — The  part  it  may  have  in  the  formation  of  reefs —  . 
Views  of  Sir  David  Brewster  examined— Mixture  of  fancy  and  fact— Experiments  of 
Peyronnel — Philosophical  analysis — Secrets  of  Nature's  laboratory — Results  of  coral 
architecture — Astonishing  amount  of  matter  solidified — Observations  of  Captain 
Flinders — Conditions  necessary  to  the  perfection  of  coral — The  coral  builders  watched 
— Work  described— Banks  reared — World-matter — Half-way  Island — Coral  forma 
tions  of  Rimatara— Honolulu  reef— Mediterranean  and  Re,d  Sea  coral— Rate  of 
growth— Effect  of  light— Agents  that  reduce  it— Indian  Ocean  coral— Appearance  of 
a  reef  between  the  tides— Millions  of  worms  observed— Facts  gathered  from  navi 
gators—Coral  of  prose  and  of  poetry— Moss  corals  by  the  microscope— Zoophytic 
tribes  classified  by  the  Geologist  of  the  U.  S.  Exploring  Squadron — Scientific  deduc 
tions— Fejee  Island  reefs  described — Vast  size  of  individual  specimens — Notices  of 
the  Kingsmill  group — Vast  depth  of  soundings  off  the  reef— Uses  of  coral — Natural 
and  Eesthetic  ends  served. 

THE  island  of  Molokai  is  well  worth  a  traveller's 
visiting,  despite  the  risk  of  crossing  that  boisterous 
channel,  for  the  curious  and  beautiful  corals  he  may  get 
there,  and  the  near  view  h$  may  have  of  the  living 
coral-beds,  in  all  their  sub-marine  luxuriancy.  You 
may  go  out  upon  the  reef  in  a  canoe,  and  sail  over  the 
gay  gardens,  and  in  only  a  foot  or  two  pf  water,  may 


176  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

gather  some  of  the  most  exquisite  specimens  of  marine 
animalculic  vegetation  ever  seen. 

The  kinds,  too,  are  uncommonly  unique  and  various. 
In  one  mass,  and  disengaged  at  a  single  reach  and  effort 
of  the  arm,  there  will  sometimes  be  five  or  six  different 
species  of  this  wonderful  formation  cemented  together. 

The  colors  are  various,  and  sometimes  exquisite. 
Now  and  then  you  can  point  out  a  piece  to  a  native, 
and  he  will  bring  it  up  all  blushing  with  purple  or  blue, 
which  you  would  give  any  thing  to  preserve  in  a  cabi 
net  with  that  delicate  Tyrian  tint.  Sometimes  it  is  like 
colored  confectionery  crystallized,  with  all  the  hues  of 
the  rainbow.  But  the  tints  of  sunset  clouds  are  not 
more  fading  and  evanescent  than  the  rosy  blush  of 
•those  beautiful  sea-flowers,  when  once  plucked  from 
their  aqueous  bed. 

It  is  only  the  coralline  forms,  or  the  different  ways 
in  which  those  ingenious  little  architects  make  their 
coral  groves  to  grow,  that  can  be  preserved.  And  then 
those  little  radiations  and  branches  are  so  brittle,  and 
the  microscopic  finish  of  the  crystalline  structure  is 
sometimes  so  nice,  that  in  washing  off  the  extraneous 
matters,  and  packing  them  up  for  friends  at  home,  you 
are  almost  sure  to  break  and  mar  the  most  perfect 
specimens. 

It  is  very  curious  to  observe  how  a  family  of  corals 
will  grow  together  and  intermarry,  till  you  can  trace 
the  pedigree  from  sire  to  son,  through  a  coral  ancestry 
for  many  generations.  There  is  a  species  which  the 
natives  call  awa^  of  which  one  of  the  missionary  boys 


REMARKABLE    SPECIMENS    DESCRIBED.  177 

here  has  a  rare  specimen  to  send  to  one  of  his  brothers 
in  America. 

The  ana  grows  somewhat  like  the  head  of  a  mush 
room,  on  a  flower-stalk  put  forth  from  the  parent  stock. 
If  you  call  it  a  flower,  its  petals  are  innumerable  white 
scales,  growing  erect,  and  separate  each  from  its  bed 
like  the  seeds  of  a  sun-flower.  These  are  of  all  sizes, 
from  that  of  a  button  to  the  crown  of  a  hat.  The  speci 
men  referred  to  is  a  family  tree,  the  trunk  bearing  its 
infant  and  youthful  sprigs,  of  appropriate  sizes  through 
adolescence  to  maturity,  when  some  of  the  adult  anas 
are  having  little  miniature  grandsons  of  the  third  gen 
eration. 

The  theory  which  avers  that  corals  do  not  grow  vig 
orously  in  less  water  than  two  or  three  fathoms,  is  quite 
disproved  by  the  growth  at  Molokai.  We  have  seen 
and  collected  some  fine  living  specimens,  where  the 
water  was  not  more  than  two  feet  deep,  and  where  the 
reef  must  be  sometimes  laid  bare  in  low  water. 

In  a  specimen  obtained  by  Mr.  Andrews,  only  a  few 
days  ago,  there  was  found  snugly  inclosed  in  one  of  the 
cups  formed  by  the  little  branches  locking  in  with  each 
other  like  locked  hands,  an  interloping  crab.  There  he 
w^as,  nicely  caught  and  encased  by  the  growing  coral, 
as  between  the  palms  of  two  locked  hands,  precisely  as 
toads  are  sometimes  found  in  rocks,  or  the  solid  heart 
of  trees.  How  long  he  had  been  imprisoned  there  by 
the  busy  little  builders  upon  those  immense  reefs,  we 
could  not  tell ;  but  the  boys  thought  it  must  have  been 

8* 


ITS  LIFE   IN   TIIE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

in  some  Kip  Van  Winkle  sleep,  if  such  things  ever 
happen  in  the  life  of  crabs. 

Coral  is  most  abundant  on  the  leeward  of  the  Islands, 
and  the  larger  reefs  are  only  found  there.  It  is  said  to 
be  ascertained  by  observation,  that  a  uniform  tempera 
ture  of  at  least  seventy-six  degrees  is  most  favorable  to 
their  growth.  The  great  thickness  of  the  reefs  is  sup 
posed  to  be  caused  by  the  gradual  and  long-continued 
subsidence  of  the  original  shelf  of  coral,  while  the  sur 
face  is  maintained  at  the  same  level  as  at  first  by  the 
unceasing  additions  made  by  the  polypes. 

According  to  this  theory,  the  islands  of  Polynesia 
once  formed  a  vast  equatorial  continent,  which,  through 
volcanic  agency  as  its  probable  cause,  has  subsided, 
and  left  the  present  islands  as  grave-stones  to  com 
memorate  its  former  existence. 

Be  this  as  it  may,  besides  the  overflow  from  volcanic 
eruptions,  a  re-elevatory  process  must  have  been  going 
on  for  ages  in  the  islands  of  Hawaii,  in  order  to  account 
for  the  existence  of  well-defined  coral,  on  this  island  of 
Molokai,  for  instance,  five  hundred  feet  above  the  pres 
ent  level  of  the  sea. 

The  same  has  been  found,  also,  according  to  Mr. 
Andrews,  on  Maui ;  and  natives  say  that  on  one  of  the 
mountains  of  Kauai,  four  thousand  feet  above  the  sea, 
there  is  a  bed  of  coral  and  coral  sand,  and  in  it  a  spring 
of  water. 

On  the  road  from  Lahaina  to  Wailuku,  there  is  lava 
three  or  four  hundred  feet  above  the  sea,  covered  with 
a  deposit  of  lime  from  one-eighth  to  half  an  inch  in 


PECULIAR   FORMATIONS   NOT   ACCOUNTED   FOR.        179 

thickness,  as  if  made  by  successive  coats  of  whitewash, 
precisely  as  I  have  frequently  seen  stones  at  the  sea 
side  coated  with  carbonate  of  lime,  which  is,  undoubt 
edly,  a  precipitate  from  the  sea-water. 

In  ravines,  and  on  the  sides  of  precipices  where  the 
strata  of  successive  volcanic  eruptions  are  broken  off, 
there  is  often  to  be  found  a  perpendicular  vein  of  car 
bonate  of  lime,  that  seems  to  have  run  into  fissures,  or 
to  have  been  deposited  there  when  in  a  state  of  solution,  J 
from  what  source  it  is  not  easy  to  tell.  That  it  is  lime 
cannot  be  doubted,  for  I  have  frequently  seen  it  effer 
vesce  at  pouring  on  sulphuric  acid.  There  is  also,  on 
this  island,  one  thousand  feet  above  the  Sea,  a  locality 
of  a  mineral,  very  like  to  white  flint,  and  which  one 
might  suppose  to  Jbe  crystallized  coral,  though  it  will 
not  effervesce  with  the  strongest  acids. 

"While  on  the  subject  of  corals,  it  is  in  place  to  men 
tion  an  inference  which  Williams  makes  in  his  Mission 
ary  Enterprises,  in  regard  to  the  formation  of  corals, 
from  the  fact  of  their  being  carbonate  of  lime  always  in 
solution  with  salt  water.  His  remarks  are,  that,  "  as 
corals  are  carbonate  of  lime,  and  as  they  are  found  to 
exist  only  in  warm  climates,  where,  by  the  process  of 
evaporation,  there  is  abundance  of  materials  supplied 
for  these  insects  to  build  with,  instead  of  secreting  the 
substance,  or  producing  it  in  any  other  way,  they  are 
merely  the  wonderful  architects  which  nature  employs 
to  mould  and  fashion  the  material  into  the  various  and 
beautiful  forms  which  the  God  of  nature  designed  it 


180  LIFE   IN    THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 


should  assume.  In  the  Museum  at  Liverpool,  among 
the  specimens  of  coral,  there  is  a  branching  piece  of 
coral  which  is  a  calcareous  crystal,  formed  in  the 
evaporating  house  of  the  salt-works  of  the  King  of 
Prussia." 

So,  in  regard  to  sea-shells,  instead  of  saying  that  the 
animals  secrete  the  calcareous  coverings  which  they 
inhabit,  he  thinks  that  they  emit  or  secrete  a  gluten,  to 
which  the  calcareous  particles  adhere,  and  thus  form 
the  shell.  Let  there  be  a  chemical  precipitation  of  the 
minute  calcareous  particles  floating  in  sea-water  by  any 
means,  and  there  might  be  formed  a  reef ;  agreeably  to 
the  experiment,  in  which  the  passing  of  a  stream  of 
electric  fluid  through  water. having  calcareous  and  sili- 
cious  particles  in  solution,  produces  stones. 

The  lightning  of  tropical  regions,  and  the  electric 
fluid  engendered  by  sub-marine  and  other  volcanoes 
which  abound  in  the  South  Seas,  may  thus  produce  an 
effect  adequate  to  the  formation  of  those  wonderful  and 
invaluable  structures.  This  is  a  much  more  rational 
theory  to  account  for  the  existence  of  the  immense  coral 
reefs  and  coral  islands  of  the  Pacific,  than  that  alluded 
to  above,  which  supposes  them  wholly  the  work  of  saxi- 
genous  polypes  or  lithophytes. 

The  so-called  saxigenous,  or  rock-making  polype, 
builds  upon  the  reefs,  and  cements  his  singular  tree- 
imitating  structures  to  them ;  but  this  agency,  we  can 
not  but  think,  is  altogether  inadequate  to  the  formation 
of  immense  islands.  The  more  solid  and  compact  tex 
ture  of  the  coral  rock,  often  stratified,  would  also  lead 


PROCESS  OF  CONSTRUCTING  A  CORAL  REEF.     181 

one  to  ascribe  to  it  a  different  origin  from  the  corals, 
whose  exact  and  beautiful  cellular  structure  evinces  an 
animal  agency  as  plainly  as  the  honeycomb  of  a  bee 
hive. 

It  is  therefore  quite  unnecessary  to  suppose  the  cal 
careous  coral  rocks  either  secreted  by  insects,  or  the 
exuviae  of  the  insects",  or  the  dead  bodies  of  the  insects 
themselves  ;  but  they  are  simply  carbonate  of  lime  pre 
cipitated  from  the  sea-water  which  holds  its  particles  in 
solution,  mixed  and  cemented  together  with  broken 
shells  and  pieces  of  corals.  The  coral,  properly  so  called, 
(that  which  is  to  be  seen  in  museums  and  cabinets,)  is 
what  is  built  upon  this  rock  as  a  foundation,  by  the 
coral  insect. 

These  observations  made  on  corals  as  seen  in  the  beds 
where  they  grow,  at  the  Sandwich  Islands,  and  recorded 
on  the  spot,  have  induced  me  to  compare  the  results 
thus  obtained  with  what  has  been  written  on  this  sub 
ject  by  certain  late  authors. 

In  a  recent  article  from  the  North  British  Review, 
by  Sir  David  Brewster,  he  says : — "  Our  readers,  no 
donbt,  are  aware  tlrat  the  coral  rocks  which  form  islands 
and  reefs  hundreds  of  miles  in  extent,  are  built  by  small 
animals,  called  polypus,  that  secrete,  from  the  lower 
portion  of  their  body,  a  large  quantity  of  carbonate  of 
lime ;  which,  when  diffused  around  the  body,  and  de 
posited  between  the  folds  of  its  abdominal  coats,  consti 
tutes  a  cell,  or polypidom,  vvpolypary,  into  the  hollow  of 
wrhich  the  animal  can  retire.  The  solid  thus  formed  is 
called  a  coral,  which  represents  exactly  the  animal  itself. 


182  LIFE   IN    THE    SANDWICH    ISLANDS. 

"  These  stony  cells  are  sometimes  single  and  cupped  ; 
sometimes  ramifying  like  a  tree,  and  sometimes  grouped 
like  a  cauliflower,  or  imitating  the  human  brain.  The 
calcareous  cells  which  they  build  remain  fixed  to  the 
rock  in  which  they  began  their  labors,  after  the  animals 
themselves  are  dead.  A  new  set  of  workmen  take  their 
places,  and  add  another  story  to  tKe  rising  edifice.  The 
same  process  goes  on. from  generation  to  generation, 
until  the  wrall  reaches  the  surface  of  the  ocean,  where  it 
necessarily  terminates. 

"  These  industrious  laborers  act  as  scavengers  of  the 
lowest  class ;  perpetually  employed  in  cleansing  the 
waters  of  the  sea  from  impurities  which  escape  even  the 
smallest  Crustacea ;  in  the  same  manner  as  the  insect 
tribes,  in  their  various  stages,  are  destined  to  find  their 
food  by  devouring  impurities  caused  by  dead  animals 
and  vegetable  matter  in  the  land. 

"  "Were  we  to  unite  into  one  mass  the  immense  coral 
reefs,  three  hundred  miles  long,  and  the  numberless 
coral  islands,  some  of  which  are  forty  and  fifty  miles  in 
diameter ;  and  if  we  add  to  this  all  the  coralline  lime 
stone,  and  the  other  formations,  whether  calcareous  or 
silicious,  that  are  the  works  of  insect  labor,  we  should 
have  an  accumulation  of  solid  matter  which  would  com 
pose  a  planet  or  a  satellite — at  least  one  of  the  smaller 
planets,  between  Mars  and  Jupiter.  And  if  such  a 
planet  could  be  so  constructed,  may  we  not  conceive 
that  the  solid  materials  of  a  whole  system  of  worlds 
might  have  been  formed  by  the  tiny,  but  long-continued 
labors  of  beings  that  are  invisible !" 


VIEWS    OF   SIR    DAVID    BKEWSTER.  183 

s 

Now  here  is  a  mixture  of  fancy  and  fact,  which  a 
single  personal  inspection  of  a  coral  reef  by  the  learned 
theorizer  would  have  very  considerably  modified.  He 
would  become  satisfied,  I  think,  that  the  great  reef  it 
self,  as  it  appears  at  the  Sandwich  Islands,  so  far  from 
being  the  work  of  insect  labor  alone,  is  the  basis  which 
Nature  herself  lays,  in  the  way  before  referred  to,  by 
the  precipitation  of  carbonate  of  lime,  through  electrical 
agency,  from  sea-water,  for  the  coral  insect  to  build 
upon,  and  garnish  with  his  beautiful  structures.  This 
basis,  it  is  true,  is  increased  from  time  to  time  by  the 
decay  of  the  coral  fabrics,  but  it  is  never  reared  by 
them  alone  from  the  depths  of  the  sea. 

Coral  wras  generally  deemed  a  vegetable  substance 
until  the  year  1720,  when  M.  de  Peyronnel,  of  Mar 
seilles,  commenced  and  continued  for  thirty  years  a 
series  of  observations,  by  which  he  ascertained  the  coral 
to  be  the  production  of  a  living  animal  of  the  polypi 
tribe.  The  general  name  of  zoophytes,  or  plant-animals, 
has  since  been  applied  to  these  marine  insects,  though 
sometimes  called  lithophytes,  or  stone-plants.  They 
occur  most  frequently  in  the  tropical  seas,  and  decrease 
in  number  and  variety  as  we  approach  the  poles. 

"  The  various  species  of  these  animals  (says  Dr.  Mil- 
ner,  Gallery  of  Nature,  p.  381)  appear  to  be,  furnished 
with  minute  glands,  secreting  gluten,  which,  upon  exu 
dation,  convert  the  carbonate  of  lime  in  the  ocean,  and 
other  earthy  matters,  into  a  fixed  and  concrete  sub 
stance,  twisted  and  fashioned  in  every  variety  of  shape. 


184  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH    ISLANDS. 


The  formation  of  coral  is  one  of  those  chemical  pro 
cesses  in  the  great  laboratory  of  nature,  which  the  skill 
of  man  has  not  enabled  him  either  to  imitate  or  to  com 
prehend;  but  the  fact  is  clear,  that  large  masses  of 
solid  rock  are  formed  by  those  diminutive  living  agents, 
sea-workers,  toiling  and  spinning  to  the  music  of  the 
waves,  whose  constructions  are  capable  of  resisting  the 
tremendous  power  of  ocean,  when  most  agitated  by 
winds  and  tempests,  and  ultimately  become  a  secure 
habitation  for  man  himself." 

The  coral  substance  appears  to  bear  the  same  relation 
to  the  insect,  as  the  shell  of  a  snail  or  of  an  oyster  does 
to  either  of  those  animals,  without  which  they  cannot 
long  exist ;  and  it  is  upon  the  death  of  the  animalcules 
that  their  separate  structures  become  firmly  knit  to 
gether  by  some  mysterious  cement,  and  serve  as  the 
basis  for  the  erections  of  fresh  races,  which,  as  they 
die  off,  increase  the  growth  of  the  firm  and  solid  fabric. 

"  Millions  of  millions  thus,  from  age  to  age, 
With  simplest  skill,  and  toil  unweariable, 
No  moment  and  no  movement  unimproved, 
Line  laid  on  line,  on  terrace  terrace  spread, 
To  swell  the  heightening,  brightening,  gradual  mound, 
By  marvellous  structure  climbing  towards  the  day. 
Each  wrought  alone,  yet  all  together  wrought, 
Unconscious,  not  unworthy  instruments, 
By  which  a  hand  invisible  was  raising 
^new  creation  in  the  secret  deep. 
Omnipotence  wrought  in  them,  with  them,  by  them; 
Hence,  what  Omnipotence  alone  could  do, 
Worms  did." 

Captain  Flinders,  while  surveying  the  coasts  of  New 


OBSERVATIONS    OF    CAPTAIN   FLINDERS.  185 

Holland,  examined  the  coral  formations  in  process  there ; 
and  his  remarks  seem  to  me  to  give  the  true  theory  of 
coral  reefs,  if  there  be  added  the  fact  of  the  natural 
precipitation  of  carbonate  of  lime  from  the  sea-water  in 
which  it  is  held  in  solution,  and  the  formation  of  the 
cement  by  electrical  agency  and  heat. 

"  It  seems  to  me,"  he  writes,  "  that  when  the  animal 
cules,  which  form  the  coral  at  the  bottom  of  the  ocean, 
cease  to  live,  their  structures  adhere  to  each  other  by 
virtue  either  of  the  glutinous  remains  within,  or  of  some 
property  in  salt  water ;  and  the  interstices  being  gradu 
ally  filled  up  with  sand  and  broken  pieces  of  coral 
washed  by  the  sea,  which  also  adhere,  a  mass  of  rock 
is  at  length  formed.  Future  races  of  these  animalcules 
erect  their  habitations  upon  the  rising  bank,  and  die  in 
their  turn  to  increase  this  monument  of  their  wonder 
ful  labors. 

"  The  care  taken  to  Work  perpendicularly  in  the  early 
stages,  would  mark  a  surprising  instinct  in  these  dis 
criminative  creatures.  Their  wall  of  coral,  for  the  most 
part,  in  situations  where  the  winds  are  constant,  being 
arrived  at  the  surface,  affords  a  shelter,  to  leeward  of 
which  their  infant  colonies  maybe  safely  sent  forth; 
and  to  this,  their  instinctive  foresight,  it  seems  to  be 
owing  that  the  windward  side  of  a  reef,  exposed  to 
the  open  sea,  is  generally,  if  not  always,  the  highest 
part,  and  rises  almost  perpendicular,  sometimes  from 
the  depth  of  two  hundred,  and  perhaps  many  more 
fathoms." 

Commander  "Wilkes,  of  the  United  States  Exploring 


186  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

Squadron,  sounded  only  one  hundred  and  fifty  fathoms 
oft'  from  the  perpendicular  coral  cliff  of  Aurora  Island, 
but  found  no  bottom  with  a  line  of  that  length. 

To  be  constantly  covered  with  water  seems  necessary 
to  the  continued  existence  and  activity  of  the  coral 
animalcules.  It  cannot,  indeed,  be  perceived  that  they 
are  living  at  all,  except  in  holes  upon  the  coral  reef 
itself  that  are  below  low-water  mark,  where  we  have 
often  watched  the  progress  of  their  rising  structures, 
when  we  could  not  detect  with  the  closest  inspection 
the  busy  little  builders  themselves ;  yet  imagination 
has  been  busy  in  tracing  their  work  as  JEneas  was,  under 
the  cloud,  at  young  Carthage  : 

Miratur  molem  ^Eneas,  magalia  quondam ; 
Miratur  portas,  strepitumque,  et  strata  viarum 
Fervet  opus. 

Almost  as  fast  as  they  build,' the  coral  sand,  always 
suspended  and  washed  about  in  sea-water,  fills  up  the 
little  cells,  and  pores,  and  interstices  of  -the  minute 
masonry,  while  broken  remnants  of  dead  coral  and  other 
matter  thrown  up  by  the  sea  are  caught  and  cemented 
to  the  growing  wall,  and  form  a  solid  mass  with  it  as 
high  as  the  common  tides  reach.  •  When  that  limit  is 
attained,  and  the  surface  of  the  reef  is  now  out  of,  or 
even  with  the  water,  the  labor  of  the  coralligenous 
zoophyte  is  over,  the  sea  gradually  recedes,  the  rampart 
rises,  the  limed  debris  or  fragments  upon  it,  being  now 
rarely  covered  with  water  and  dried  by  the  sun,  lose 
their  adhesiveness  and  become  brittle  remnants,  form- 


GRADUAL   FORMATION   OF   AN   ISLAND.  187 

ing  what  is  called  sometimes  a  key  upon  the  top  of  the 
reef,  from  the  Spanish  Cayo. 

This  new  bank  is,  of  course,  not  long  in  being  visited 
by  sea-birds  ;  salt-plants  take  root  upon  it,  branches  of 
floating  sea-weed  are  caught  and  entangled  by  it ;  mus 
cles,  and  crabs,  and  echinuses,  and  turtles,  and  krakens, 
perhaps  crawl  upon  it  and  leave  their  shells,  and  a  soil 
begins  to  be  formed.  By  and  by  a  cocoanut,  or  the 
drupe  of  a  tropical  Pandanus,  is  thrown  ashore ;  land- 
birds  light  on  it  and  deposit  the  seeds  of  shrubs  and 
trees,  and  augment  it,  perhaps,  with  a  layer  of  guano. 
Every  high-tide,  and  still  more,  every  gale,  adds  some 
thing  to  the  bank  in  the  shape  of  matter -wrecks,  or 
ganic  or  inorganic.  At  length  appears  the  blue  hum 
mock  of  a  tropical  island,  and  last -of  all  comes  man  to 
take  possession,  cast  there  by  Providence,  and  glad  not 
to  have  the  sea  his  grave,  or  in  quest  of  discovery  and 
gain. 

I  have  repeatedly  seen  and  stepped  upon  progressive 
and  unfinished  parts  of  creation  like  this,  where,  as 
traced  by  a  poet-observer  of  the  Processes  of  Nature — 

The  atom  thrown  from  the  boiling  deep, 
The  palm-tree  torn  from  its  distant  steep, 
The  grain  by  the  wandering  wild-bird  sown, 
The  seed  of  flowers  by  the  tempest  strown, 
The  long  kelp  forced  from  its  rocky  bed, 
And  the  cocoanut,  on  the  waters  shed, — 
These  gather  around  the  coral's  lee, 
And  form  the  isle  of  the  lonely  sea. 

There  is  an  island  in  Australia  called  Half-way  1st 
and,  from  the  fact,  we  believe,  that  nature  does  not  yet 


188  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

seem  done  with  it,  or  to  have  finished  its  creation ;  yet 
above  the  reach  of  the  highest  spring-tides  or  the  wash 
of  the  surf  in  the  heaviest  gale.  A  navigator  who  has 
visited  it  says,  that  he  distinguished  in  the  coral  rock 
which  forms  its  basis,  the  sand,  coral,  and  shells  for 
merly  thrown  up  and  cemented  together  by  the  lime 
always  held  in  solution  by  sea-water.  Small  pieces  of 
wood  also,  pumice-stone,  and  other  extraneous  bodies 
which  chance  had  mixed  with  the  calcareous  substances 
when  the  cohesion  began,  were  inclosed  in  the  rock, 
and  in  some  cases  were  still  separable  from  it  without 
much  force. 

We  have  observed  the  same  at  the  lonely  South  Pa 
cific  island  of  Bimatara,  over  whose  verdure-clad  coral 
remains  we  once  had  a  joyous  day's  ramble.  The 
same  is  true,  also,  of  other  reefs  at  the  Sandwich  Isl 
ands,  where,  as  at  Honolulu  for  instance,  blocks  of  it 
are  quarried  from  exposed  parts,  and  used  for  building 
purposes,  (to  which  it  is  well  adapted,)  besides  being 
burned  into  lime.  ^-^^ 

From  an  admirable  work  on  corals,  published  in  the 
Scientific  and  Natural  History  series  of  the  London 
Tract  Society,  and  containing  a  number  of  very  accu 
rate  w^ood-cuts,  representing  different  species  of  coral 
polypi  and  corallines,  we  learn  that  coral  is  found  in 
different  parts  of  the  Mediterranean  and  Red  Sea,  not 
only  attached  to  rocks,  but  also  to  movable  bodies,  as 
stone  vases  and  fragments  of  lava.  It  is  also  discovered 
at  different  depths,  but  thrives  best  in  a  warm  and  sunny 


AGENTS    OF    GROWTH   AND   REDUCTION.  189 

aspect.    Light  operates  powerfully  in  its  growth,  and  its 
deposition  by  the  living  creature  is  by  no  means  rapid. 

It  is  thought  to  require  eight  years  for  a  stem  of 
Mediterranean  or  Eed  Sea  coral  to  obtain  the  average 
height  of  ten  or  twelve  inches,  in  water  from  three  to 
ten  fathoms  deep ;  ten  years  if  the  water  is  fifteen 
fathoms ;  twenty-five  or  thirty  years  if  the  water  is  a 
hundred  fathoms  ;  and  at  least  forty  years  if  the  depth 
is  one  hundred  and  fifty  fathoms. 

It  is  more  beautiful  in  shallow  water,  where  the 
light  reaches  it,  than  where  an  immense  body,  absorb 
ing  most  of  the  luminous  rays,  deprives  it  of  their 
curiously  modifying  influence.  Having  attained  its 
full  growth,  it  is  soon  pierced  in  every  part  by  worms, 
(which  attack  even  the  hardest  rocks,)  ]oses  its  solidity, 
and  but  slight  shocks  detach  it  from  its  base.  The 
polypi  perish,  and  the  coral  stem,  by  attrition  with  the 
sea-worn  pebbles,  as  it  rolls  along,  is  soon  reduced  to 
powder,  or  coral  sand. 

Captain  Hall  says  of  the  reefs  in  the  seas  about  Loo 
Choo,  Indian  Ocean,  what  I  have  often  heard  Ameri- 
can  whalemen  say  of  those  in  the  Mozambique  chan 
nel,  which  is  the  region  of  ocean  most  prolific  in  cu 
rious  shells,  that  when  the  sea  has  left  a  reef  for  some 
time  between  the  tides,  it  becomes  dry,  and  appears  to 
be  a  compact  rock,  exceedingly  hard  and  ragged.  But 
no  sooner  does  the  tide  rise  again,  and  the  waves  be 
gin  to  wash  over  it,  than  millions  of  worms  protrude 
themselves  from  holes  on  the  surface,  which  were  be 
fore  quite  invisible. 


190  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

"  These  animals  (he  says)  are  of  a  great  variety  of 
shapes  and  sizes,  and  in  such  prodigious  numbers,  that  in 
a  short  time  the  whole  surface  of  the  rock  appears  to  be 
alive  and  in  motion.  The  most  common  of  the  worms 
was  in  the  form  of  a  star,  with  arms  from  four  to  six 
inches  long,  which  it  moved  about  with  a  rapid  motion 
in  all  directions,  probably  in  search  of  food.  Others 
wrere  so  sluggish,  that  they  were  often  mistaken  for 
pieces  of  the  rock  ;  these  were  generally  of  a  dark  color, 
and  from  four  to  five  inches  long,  and  two  or  three 
round. 

"  When  the  rock  was  broken  from  a  spot  near  the 
level  of  high  water,  it  was  found  to  be  a  hard,  solid 
stone ;  but  if  any  part  of  it  were  detached  at  a  level 
to  which  the  tide  reached  every  day,  it  was  discovered 
to  be  full  of  worms,  of  all  different  lengths  and  colors  : 
some  being  as  fine  as  a  thread,  and  several  feet  long, 
generally  of  a  very  bright  yellow,  and  sometimes  of  a 
blue  color ;  while  others  resembled  snails ;  and  some 
were  not  unlike  lobsters  and  prawns  in  shape,  but  soft, 
and  not  above  two  inches  long." 

Probably  it  was  with  the  minute  description  in  mind 
of  some  closely  observing  navigator  in  Eastern  seas, 
that  the  accomplished  author  of  the  finely  conceived 
Poem  called  "  The  Pelican  Island,"  adds  this  as  a  se 
quel  to  the  coral-forming  process  which  he  has  been 
most  accurately  describing : 

A  point  at  first 

It  peered  above  those  waves  ;  a  point  so  small, 
I  just  perceived  it,  fixed  where  all  was  floating ; 


MICROSCOPIC   MOSS   COEALS.  191 

And  when  a  bubble  crossed  it,  the  blue  film 

Expanded  like  a  sky  above  the  speck : 

That  speck  became  a  hand-breadth  ;  day  and  night 

It  spread,  accumulated,  and  ere  long 

Presented  to  my  view  a  dazzling  plain, 

White  as  the  moon  amid  the  sapphire  sea ; 

Bare  at  low  water,  and  as  still  as  death, 

But  when  the  tide  came  guggling  o'er  the  surface, 

'Twas  like  a  resurrection  of  the  dead  : 

From  graves  innumerable,  punctures  fine 

In  the  close  coral,  capillary  swarms 

Of  reptiles,  horrent  as  Medusa's  snakes, 

Covered  the  bald-pate  reef.     Then  all  was  life, 

And  indefatigable  industry : 

The  artisans  were  twisting  to  and  fro 

In  idle-seeming  convolutions ;  yet 

They  never  vanished  with  the  ebbing  surge, 

Till  pellicle  on  pellicle,  and  layer 

On  layer,  was  added  to  the  growing  mass. 

Ere  long  the  reef  o'ertopped  the  spring-flood's  height, 

And  mocked  the  billows  when  they  leapt  upon  it, 

Unable  to  maintain  their  slippery  hold, 

And  falling  down  in  foam-wreaths  round  its  verge. 

There  is  a  variety  of  coral,  of  microscopic  minute 
ness  in  its  structure,  of  which  the  naturalists  Ehrenberg 
and  D'Orbigny  have  discovered  hundreds  of  fossil  spe 
cies  ;  and  their  minute  shelly  cases  enter  into  the 
composition  of  chalk-beds,  compact  mountain  lime 
stone,  the  sea-sand  of  Europe,  the  Mauritius,  the  Sand 
wich  Islands,  and  the  sands  of  the  Libyan  desert, 
even. 

Some  idea  of  the  minuteness  of  _  these  fossil  moss 
corals  may  be  formed  from  the  fact,  that  in  the  finest 
levigated  whiting  multitudes  are  present,  without  hav 
ing  suffered  change  in  the  preparation  of  the  chalk. 


192  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

Only  let  the  microscope  be  employed,  and  a  mosaic- 
work  of  moss-coral  animalcules  may  be  seen,  of  varied 
and  beautiful  forms,  on  the  chalk-coating  of  the  walls 
of  a  room. 

The  best  way  of  observing  them  is  to  place  a  drop  of 
water  on  a  delicate  film  of  mica,  and  to  add  to  it  as 
much  fine  chalk-powder  as  the  top  of  a  penknife  will 
take  up.  Spread  this  out  like  a  very  thin  layer,  then 
drain  oft7  the  water,  and  with  it  the  floating  particles  ; 
when  the  layer  is  quite  dry,  coat  it  over  with  pure 
Canada  balsam,  holding  it,  while  this  is  being  done, 
over  a  spirit-lamp.  Then  the  powder,  examined 
through  a  microscope,  will  be  found  chiefly  composed 
of  minute  cells,  the  relics  of  moss  corals. 

Since  the  publication  of  the  Annals  of  the  U.  S. 
Exploring  Squadron,  and  especially  the  late  volume  of 
its  Geology,  by  James  D.  Dana,  Geologist  of  the  Ex 
pedition,  science  has  no  lack  of  materials  for  describ 
ing  and  classifying  the  various  species  -of  coral  zoo 
phytes,  their  localities,  modes,  and  probable  times  of 
growth.  The  facts  furnished  by  this  Expedition  are 
almost  innumerable ;  and  in  the  superb  quarto  volume 
on  Geology  they  are  arranged  in  such  a  felicitous  scien 
tific  order,  (though,  from  the  vast  amount  of  original 
matter,  necessarily  diffuse,)  as  to  afford  the  coral  natu 
ralist  all  the  information  he  could  desire. 

The  author's  own  deductions  are  clear  and  philo 
sophical,  and  being  .derived  from  no  partial  knowl 
edge  of'&cts,  they  constitute  a  most  valuable  exhibi- 


FEJEE    ISLAND    REEFS    DESCRIBED.  193 

tion  of  the  conclusive  and  comprehensive  logic  of 
Modern  Science.  His  view  of  the  formation  and 
growth  both  of  reefs  and  corals  agrees  substantially 
with  that  presented  above,  and  derived  from  our  ob 
servations  around  the  Island  of  Molokai. 

His  description  of  the  inner  reefs  in  the  Fejees 
might  answer  almost  equally  well  for  this  island.  Ex 
amples  are  common  there  where,  as  in  the  account  I 
have  given  of  our  ten  miles  sail  upon  the  Molokai 
reef,  a  remote  barrier  incloses  as  pure  a  sea  as  the 
ocean  beyond,  and  the  greatest  agitation  is  only  such 
as  the  wind  may  excite  on  a  narrow  lake  or  channel. 
Over  the  surface  there  are  many  portions  still  under 
water  at  the  lowest  tides  ;  and  fine  fishing  sport  is  af 
forded  on  them  to  the  natives,  who  wade  out  at  the 
ebb-tide  with  spears,  pronged  sticks,  and  nets,  to  supply 
themselves  with  food 

"  The  lover  of  the  marvellous  may  find  abundant 
gratification  by  joining  in  such  a  ramble.  Among 
coral  plants  and  flowers,  with  fishes  of  fantastic  colors 
— star-fish,  echini,  and  myriads  of  other  beings,  which 
science  alone  has  named,  fit  inhabitants  of  a  coral 
world — there  is  on  every  side  occasion  for  surprise 
and  admiration.  Generally,  the  *rock  of  these  in 
ner  reefs  is  composed  of  coral,  which  stands  as  it 
grew,  less  fragmentary  than  the  outer,  but  united 
by  a  solid  cement.  Upon  its  surface  the  limits  of 
the  constituent  masses  may  be  often  distinctly  tra 
ced.  The  corals  grow  underneath  the  surface  in 
solid  hemispheres  ;  but  when  the  surface  is-  reached 


194:  LIFE    IN   THE   SANDWICH    ISLANDS. 

the  top  dies,  and  enlargement  only  goes  on  at  the 
sides. 

"  Some  individual  specimens  of  Porites,  in  the  rock 
of  the  inner  reef  of  Tongatabu,  were  twenty-five  feet  in 
diameter ;  and  Astreas  and  Meandrinas,  both  there 
and  in  the  Fejees,  measured  twelve  to  fifteen  feet. 
The  platform  resembles  a  Cyclopean  pavement,  except 
that  the  cementing  material  between  the  huge  masses 
is  more  solid  than  any  work  of  art  could  be. 

"  Sometimes  the  barrier  reef  recedes  from  the  shore, 
and  forms  wide  channels  or  inland  seas,  where  ships 
find  ample  room  and  depth  of  water,  exposed,  how 
ever,  to  the  danger  of  hidden  reefs.  The  reef  on  the 
northeast  coast  of  New  Holland  and  New  Caledonia 
extends  four  hundred  miles,  at  a  distance  varying  from 
thirty  to  sixty  miles  from  shore,  and  having  as  many 
fathoms  of  depth  in  the  channel.  West  of  the  large 
Fejee  Islands  the  channel  is  in  some  parts  twenty-five 
miles  wide,  and  twelve  to  forty  fathoms  in  depth.  The 
sloop  of  war  Peacock  sailed  along  the  west  coast  of 
both  Viti  Lebu  and  Vanua  Lebu,  within  the  inner 
reefs,  a  distance  exceeding  two  hundred  miles. 

"  A  barrier  reef,  inclosing  a  lagoon,  is  the  general 
formation  of  the  coral  islands,  though  there  are  some 
of  small  size  in  which  the  lagoon  is  wranting.  These 
are  found  in  all  stages  of  development :  in  some  the 
reef  is  narrow  and  broken,  forming  a  succession  of 
narrow  islets  with  openings  into  the  lagoon  ;  in  others 
there  only  remains  a  depression  of  surface  in  the  cen 
tre  to  indicate  where  the  lagoon  originally  was.  The 


NOTICES    OF   THE   KINGSMILL    GROUP.  195 

most  beautiful  are  those  where  the  lagoon  is  com 
pletely  inclosed,  and  rests  within  a  quiet  lake.  Maraki, 
one  of  the  Kingsmill  group,  is  one  of  the  prettiest  coral 
islands  of  the  Pacific.  The  line  of  vegetation  is  un 
broken,  and  seen  from  the  mast-head  it  lies  like  a  gar 
land  thrown  upon  the  waters. 

"  When  first  seen  from  the  deck  of  a  vessel,  only  a 
series  of  dark  points  is  descried,  just  above  the  hori 
zon.  Shortly  after  the  points  enlarge  into  the  plumed 
tops  of  cocoanut-trees,  and  a  line  of  green,  interrupted 
at  intervals,  is  traced  along  the  water's  surface.  Ap 
proaching  still  nearer,  the  lake  and  its  belt  of  verdure 
are  spread  out  before  the  eye,  and  a  scene  of  more  in 
terest  can  scarcely  be  imagined.  The  surf,  beating 
loud  and  heavy  along  the  margin  of  the  reef,  presents 
a  strange  contrast  to  the  prospect  beyond — the  white 
coral  beach,  the  massy  foliage  of  the  grove,  and  the 
embosomed  lake,  with  its  tiny  islets.  The  color  of 
the  lagoon  water  is  often  as  blue  as  the  ocean,  al 
though  but  fifteen  or  twenty  fathoms  deep  ;  yet  shades 
of  green  and  yellow  are  intermingled,  where  patches 
of  sand  or  coral  knolls  are  near  the  surface ;  and  the 
green  is  a  delicate  apple  shade,  quite  unlike  the  usual 
muddy  tint  of  shallow  waters. 

"  These  garlands  of  verdure  seem  to  stand  on  the 
brims  of  cups,  whose  bases  rest  in  unfathomable  depths. 
Seven  miles  east  of  Clermont  Tonnere,  the  lead  ran  out 
to  eleven  hundred  and  forty-five  fathoms  (six  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  seventy  feet)  without  reaching  bot 
tom.  Within  three-quarters  of  a  mile  of  the  southern 


196  LIFE    IN    THE    SANDWICH    ISLANDS. 

point  of  this  island,  the  lead  at  another  throw,  after 
running  out  for  a  while,  brought  up  in  an  instant  at 
three  hundred  and  fifty  fathoms,  and  then  dropped  off 
again  and  descended  to  six  hundred  fathoms  without 
reaching  bottom.  The  lagoons  are  generally  shallow, 
though  in  the  larger  islands  soundings  gave  twenty  to 
thirty-five,  and  even  fifty  and  sixty  fathoms." 

In  observing  these  vast  walls  of  coral  masonry,  and 
in  studying  the  diversities  of  coral  upon  them,  and  the 
curiously  modified  forms  of  beauty  they  assume,  it  is 
natural  to  ask,  What  ends  do  they  serve  ?  and  what  is 
all  this  outlay  of  beauty  for  ?  It  were  a  good  answer 
to  say,  in  the  w^ords  of  the  Psalmist,  when  he  was  at 
tempting  to  uncover  and  describe  some  of  the  curious 
processes  of  Nature  : — 0  Lord,  how  manifold  are  thy 
works  !  in  wisdom  hast  ihou  made  them  all. 

Aside  from  the  manifest  utilitarian  ends  they  serve 
in  building*  up  beautiful  oases  from  the  bed  of  ocean, 
as  places  of  habitation  for  man  and  beast^  and  then  af 
fording  the  material  in  such  exhaustless  affluence  out 
of  which  art  may  construct  temples  for  God's  worship 
and  palaces  for  man's  abode,  we  say  of  them,  as  we 
can  of  all  things  in  God's  Universe,  what  one  of  the 
most  eminent  American  authors  has  written  in  the 
Poem  entitled  "  Factitious  Life :" — 

THESE  are  Earth's  uses :— God  has  framed  the  whole, 
Not  mainly  for  the  body,  but  the  soul, 
That  it  might  dawn  on  beauty,  and  might  grow 
Noble  in  thought,  from  Nature's  noble  show ; 


*  See  Note  B. 


NATURAL   AND   .ESTHETIC   USES    OF  CORAL. 


197 


Might  gather  from  the  flowers  an  humble  mind, 
And  on  Earth's  ever-varying  surface  find 
Something  to  win  to  kind  and  fresh'ning  change, 
And  give  the  powers  a  wide  and  healthful  range  ; 
To  furnish  man  sweet  company  where'er 
He  travels  on — a  something  to  call  dear, 
And  more  his  own,  because  it  makes  a  part 
With  that  fair  world  that  dwells  within  the  heart. 
Earth  yields  to  healthful  labor  meat  and  drink, 
That  man  may  live — for  what  ?     To  feel  and  think ; 
And  not  to  eat  and  drink,  and  like  the  beast, 
Sleep,  and  then  wake  and  get  him  to  his  feast. 
Over  these  grosser  uses  Nature  throws 
Beauties  so  delicate,  the  man  foregoes 
A  while  his  low  intents,  to  soft  delights 
Yields  up  himself;  and,  lost  in  sounds  and  sights, 
Forgets  that  Earth  was  made  for  aught  beside 
His  doting  ;  and  he  woos  it  as  his  bride.! 


Circular  Coral  Reef  and  Lagoon. 


108  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 


CHAPTER   IX. 

REMINISCENCES    OF    LAHAINALUNA,  AND    SKETCHES  OF  THE  FIRST 
HAWAIIAN  COLLEGE. 

Suave,  mari  magno  turbantibus  sequora  ventis, 
E  terra  magnum  alterius  spectare  laborem. 

LUCRETIUS. 

Sweet,  from  a  post  of  safety,  to  review  the  labors  and  virtues  of  other 
men  beyond  the  seas. 

We  recross  the  Molokai  channel  by  canoe— Sketch  of  an  Hawaiian  College— Internal 
economy  and  discipline — Origin  and  history — Faculty  and  course  of  study — Intention 
of  the  founders — Ability  and  usefulness  of  the  first  graduates— Laws  ahead  of  mor 
als — Wisdom  not  always  married  to  the  wise — Prudence  not  limited  to  the  pruden 
tial—  A  revolution  in  progress — Signs  of  the  times — Entente  cordiale — Natural  dif 
ferences  of  opinion  among  missionaries— A  pastor's  expedient  to  sound  the  knowl 
edge  of  his  flock— Great  difficulty  of  being  simple  enough  in  the  exhibition  of  truth 
— Remarkable  answers  of  natives — Heathen  destitution  of  common  ideas — Conse 
quent  inappreciation  of  Scripture — Similar  experience  of  missionaries  in  the  east — 
Remarkable  cases  in  proof—  Fruits  of  the  great  revival — Reasonings  of  practical  men 
—Sources  of  correct  information— How  to  find  the  meridian  of  truth— Illustration 
from  the  working  of  longitude  by  lunars. 

IT  is  one  of  the  most  grateful  recollections  of  the  tour 
we  have  been  making  through  the  Hawaiian  Heart  of 
the  Pacific,  that  a  providential  passage  across  the  rude 
channel  between  the  islands  of  Maui  and  Molokai,  con 
signed  me  over  to  the  very  cordial  hospitalities  of  La- 
hainaluna.  The  location  there  of  the  Mission  Semi 
nary,  containing  one  hundred  and  thirty  or  forty  lads 
and  young  men,  the  college-like  aspect  of  the -main 
building,  and  frequent  sounds  of  the  bell,  summoning 


PANORAMA    FEOM   THE    COLLEGE    HILL.  199 

to  some  exercise,  all  invest  the  place  with  a  literary 
air  that  is  not  to  be  found  elsewhere  at  the  Sandwich 
Islands. 

Persons  connected  with  the  Seminary,  and  the  fami 
lies  of  the  teachers,  are  the  sole  residents.  It  is  far 
enough  removed  from  Lahaina  to  be  retired,  while  the 
town  and  shipping  are  all  in  sight  two  miles  below. 
The  panorama  it  commands  of  sky,  ocean,  and  island, 
with  their  overhanging  clouds,  especially  from  a  point 
still  higher  up  the  mountain,  where  Mr.  Dibble  him 
self  built  a  house,  is  very  extensive  and  grand.  Four 
different  islands  and  the  magnificent  expanse  of  the 
Pacific  are  always  there,  and  sometimes,  on  a  clear  day, 
you  can  discern  Oahu,  seventy  miles  off  to  the  north 
west,  and  Hawaii,  still  further  to  the  south. 

There  are  three  dwelling-houses  for  teachers,  besides 
a  commodious  stone  printing-house,  and  the  College 
edifice,  which,  including  its  wings,  is  one  hundred  and 
forty  feet  front,  and  between  thirty  and  forty  feet  deep, 
of  two  stories  high,  with  attic  and  cupola.  The  stu 
dents'  quarters  are  two  ranges  of  adobe  and  grass- 
houses,  a  little  to  the  south  of  the  College.  A  brook  is 
always  flowing  in  front,  lining  itself  with  verdure,  and 
a  row  of  thrifty  trees  more  than  repays,  with  grateful 
shade  and  green  $  the  pains  bestowed  upon  them.  » 

The  internal  conduct  and  discipline  of  the  Institution 
is  much  after  the  form  of  Colleges  in  America.  The 
students  study  at  their  rooms,  and  recite  by  divisions. 
Afternoons,  from  two  to  supper-time,  are  devoted  to 
cultivating  food,  and  other  labor,  for  which  they  are 


200  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

compensated  in  clothing,  at  fixed  rates.     Meals  are  at 
a  common  table. 

The  expense  of  food  is  about  two  cents  a  day  for  one 
person,  or  seven  dollars  and  thirty  cents  per  year. 
Clothing,  including  mats  and  sleeping  kapas,  amounts 
to  nearly  the  same.  Books,  stationery,  and  other  inci-  . 
dentals,  make  up  the  whole  to  about  twenty  dollars  per 
year,  for  which  sum,  given  by  any  Church  or  Sunday- 
school,  constituting  a  scholarship,  the  faculty  will  edu 
cate  a  man  for  the  ministry. 

The  faculty  officiate  by  turns  at  morning  and  evening 
prayers.  A  church  is  constituted  within  the  institution, 
of  which  Mr.  Dibble,  during  his  life,  was  pastor. 
Twenty-five  of  the  students  were  members.  They  have 
frequent  religious  meetings  by  themselves,  and  worship 
in  a  body  in  the  chapel  on  the  Sabbath.  The  depart 
ments  of  instruction  and  executive  administration  are 
three. 

Rev.  Mr.  Alexander  had  the  department  of  Mathe 
matics,  Natural  Philosophy,  and  Astronomy,  and  the 
immediate  oversight  and  discipline  of  the  students. 
Rev.  Mr.  Dibble  had  the  department  of  Mental  and 
Moral  Science,  Theology,  and  History.  Rev.  Mr.  Emer 
son  that  of  Languages,  Geography,  Composition,  and 
Oratory,  and  the  management  of  the  manual  labor  de 
partment.  He  was  also  pastor  of  a  church  at  Kaana- 
pali,  twelve  miles  distant,  numbering  one  hundred  and 
thirty-one  members.  They  have  had  to  prepare  their 
text-books  in  each  department,  a  work  which,  from  the 
outset,  has  been  one  of  no  small  magnitude. 


SIGNAL    USEFULNESS   OF   EARLY    GRADUATES.          201 

This  institution  has  now  been  in  existence  twenty 
years.  It  was  commenced  in  1831,  under  the  care  of 
Eev.  Lorrin  Andrews,  and  had  to  wade  along  several 
years  through  a  dismal  swamp  of  embarrassments,  acci 
dents,  and  contracted  means.  The  Res  angustse  domi, 
so  often  the  lot  of  literary  Men,  is  generally,  too,  the 
portion  of  Literary  Institutions,  during  the  period  of 
their  infancy.  This  was  eminently  true  of  the  early 
days  of  the  High  School,  as  it  was  then  called. 

But  the  sons  it  reared  in  those  days,  like  the  offspring 
of  honest  poverty,  have  turned  out  practical  and  robust 
men,  the  main  stay  of  Common  Schools,  many  of  them 
apt  to  teach,  industrious,  and  faithful.  Of  one  hundred 
and  fifty-eight  graduates,  living  in  1842,  eleven  only 
were  reported  as  not  usefully  employed,  or  immoral. 
Seventy-three  were  church  members,  and  nine  officers 
in  the  church. 

Up  to  the  year  1849,  the  Seminary,  with  all  its  per 
manent  dwelling-houses  and  appurtenances,  cost  the 
American  Board  about  seventy-seven  thousand  dollars, 
and  it  is  now  adopted  by,  and  given  over  to,  the  Ha 
waiian  Government,  and  is  to  be  sustained  hereafter  by 
Government  funds  alone,  but  on  essentially  the  same 
plan  as  heretofore.  Up  to  the  present  time  of  its  being 
made  over  to  the  Government,  it  has  sent  forth  two 
hundred  and  forty-one  graduates,  and  it  now  has  one 
hundred  and  fifty-six  under-graduates,  as  shown  by  the 
last  catalogue. 

It  is  a  good  investment  for  the  church,  at  compound 
interest;  and  the  day,  I  trust,  is  not  far  distant  when  it 

9* 


202  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

will  be  rendering  a  dividend  of  well-educated  assistant 
missionaries  and  medical  practitioners  for  Hawaii-net, 
and  all  the  other  islands  of  Polynesia,  who  will  not 
need  an  annual  shipment  from  foreign  lands  to  supply 
their  wants ;  who  will  be  of  common  kith  and  kin,  and 
habits  with  the  people  to  be  instructed,  and  by  whom 
their  languages  may  be  easily  acquired,  being,  like  their 
own,  dialects  of  the  one  great  language  that  is  spoken 
throughout  Polynesia.  But  in  order  to  this,  it  must  be 
more  liberally  endowed  and  better  furnished,  and  the 
range  of  study  must  be  more  extensive  and  thorough. 

The  plan  of  study,  and  the  length  of  the  course,  have 
been  somewhat  modified  in  order  to  meet  the  increasing- 
necessity  for  the  acquisition  of  English.  It  has  been 
determined  that  scholars  of  very  little  promise  be  dis 
missed  from  the  Seminary  at  an  early  date ;  and  that 
at  the  close  of  the  first  three  years,  all  who  do  not  give 
special  promise  of  future  usefulness  be  dismissed  :  That 
the  English  language  be  not  taught  in  the  Seminary 
till  the  close  of  the  three  first  years  of  the  course,  when 
all  the  members  of  the  class,  who  shall  not  be  dismissed, 
are  expected  to  enter  upon  the  study  of  the  English,  as 
a  prominent  branch ;  and  that  the  whole  course,  in 
cluding  the  study  of  Theology,  be  extended  from  eight 
to  twelve  years  :  That  to  teach  successfully  the  English 
language,  is  a  work  that  will  require  the  time  and 
strength  of  one  teacher. 

"We  are  well  persuaded  that  this  is  not  all  that  will 
be  necessary  in  order  to  secure  an  available  knowledge 
of  English,  which  is  becoming  so  much  an  object  of 


ENGLISH   AS    A    VEHICLE    OF   INSTRUCTION.  203 

desire  on  the  part  of  Hawaiians.  Boys  must  be  taught 
it  at  the  preparatory  station  schools,  and  be  drilled  in 
it  all  through  the  course  of  their  education,  till  the 
sciences  can  be  learned  in  it,  as  in  the  Seminary  at 
Batticotta,  and  its  treasures  of  knowledge  be  made  ac 
cessible  to  the  Hawaiian  teacher  and  preacher. 

It  will  be  a  much  cheaper  and  surer  way  of  enlight 
ening  the  Hawaiian  mind,  than  to  attempt  to  introduce 
any  thing  but  the  very  elements  of  English  science 
and  literature  in  an  Hawaiian  dress.  Natives,  to  be 
competent  teachers,  and  preachers,  and  civilians,  must 
know  something  more  than  these,  and  otherwise  than 
through  the  medium  of  a  translation. 

Besides,  it  is  only  by  a  knowledge  of  English  that 
Hawaiians  can  compete  with  foreigners,  and  fill  their 
own  offices  of  government.  The  kingdom  is  inevitably 
departed  from  them,  and  men  of  other  blood  rule  over 
them,  unless  they  learn  to  write  and  wrangle,  and 
make  treaties  in  English,  and  present  qualifications  to 
office,  as  clerks  and  scholars,  equal  to  those  of  supplant 
ing  foreigners.  The  wise  among  them  are  beginning 
to  see  this,  and  to  inquire,  "What  are  we  coming  to? 
And  they  are  urgent,  above  any  thing  else,  for  them 
selves  and  their  sons  to  learn  the  English. 

It  is  not  the  least  of  the  advantages  of  the  excellent 
school  of  young  chiefs  at  Honolulu,  that  they  are  re 
ceiving  their  instructions,  and  learning  to  converse  and 
transact  business  in  the  language  which  threatens  to 
conquer  theirs.  The  policy  of  it,  to  say  no  more,  is  as 
wise  as  that  of  certain  States  in  a  former  age,  that,  in 


204  LIFE   IN   THE    SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

order  to  avoid  subjugation  to  ancient  Rome,  adopted, 
as  far  as  possible,  her  customs  and  laws,  and  put  them 
selves  in  safe  alliance  with  the  mistress  of  the  world. 

It  is  easy  to  see  that  the  mistress-tongue  both  of  the 
Continental  and  Island- World  of  the  Pacific,  as  well  as 
Atlantic,  is  to  be  the  accommodating  and  all-supplant 
ing  English.  They  who  perceive  it  among  the  Hawaii- 
ans  desire  therefore  to  master  it  beforehand,  as  the  best 
way  to  keep  from  being  denationalized  and  mastered 
by  it. 

In  the  constitution  and  laws  of  the  Mission  Seminary 
at  Lahainaluna,  it  is  declared  to  be  a  definite  object  to 
train  up  and  qualify  school-teachers  for  their  respective 
duties,  to  teach  them,  theoretically  and  practically,  the 
best  method  of  communicating  instruction  to  others,  to 
gether  with  a  knowledge  of  the  arts,  usages,  and  habits 
of  civilized  life,  with  all  their  train  of  social  blessings. 
It  is,  then,  a  thing  to  be  wondered  at,  and  for  the  Gov 
ernment  to  be  ashamed  of,  that  it  has  done  no  more 
than  it  has  for  a  Seminary  that  has  so  noble  an  object, 
and  that  is  itself  doing  so  much  for  the  well-being  of 
the  nation. 

As  an  offset  to  the  unnatural  thing  of  charging  the 
Mission  duties  on  goods  imported  for  their  o\vn  family 
consumption,  (which  was  once  done,  but  now  we  believe 
is  not,)  Government  ought  at  least  to  have  endowed  or 
supported  an  English  Professorship  long  before  this, 
and  so  to  have  been  doing  something  in  a  line  with 
Christian  benevolence  towards  paying  the  nation's  debt 
to  the  churches  of  America. 


COST   AND   WORTH    OF   THE   SEMINARY. 

In  1842,  of  one  hundred  and  fifty-eight  persons  then 
living,  who  had  been  members  of  the  Seminary,  thirty- 
five  were  officers  of  Government,  one  hundred  and  five 
teachers  of  the  public  schools.  By  general  consent,  the 
influence  of  the  Seminary  has  been  highly  beneficial 
to  the  Hawaiian  people ;  and  it  has  a  claim  upon  the 
national  treasury  which  will  not  be  any  longer  over 
looked,  provided  only  it  be  replenished  by  the  indemnity 
asked  of  Great  Britain,  and  by  the  twenty  thousand 
dollars  so  ingloriously  extorted  by  the  French,  and 
other  damages  sustained  in  the  outrages  under  Admiral 
Tromelin.  The  usual  yearly  appropriation  from  the 
treasury  of  the  Mission  has  been  two  thousand  five 
hundred  dollars.  To  the  Boarding-schools  at  Hilo  and 
"Wailuku,  eight  hundred  dollars  each. 

In  its  early  days,  when  this  Institution  was  struggling 
for  existence,  its  pupils  were  nearly  all  adults  with 
families,  and  they  had  to  support  themselves  while 
getting  an  education.  The  perseverance  and  stability 
of  character,  which  was  both  a  prerequisite  to,  and  an 
effect  of  such  a  discipline,  made  them  trusty  and  able 
men,  whose  services  have  been  of  great  value  to  the 
nation  and  the  cause  of  Christ.  All  those  that  have 
graduated  younger  and  unmarried  of  late  years,  have 
not  turned  out  so  well. 

Nor  is  it  to  be  expected  that  youth  just  set  free  from 
the  close  restraints  and  vigilant  keeping  of  a  life  in 
school,  should  behave  themselves  always  so  properly  as 
sedate  men,  who  had  sown  their  wild  oats  years  before, 
and  who  went  out  to  places  of  usefulness  with  charac- 


206  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

ters  tried  and  established,  and  their  domestic  relations 
fixed. 

It  would  be  strange,  indeed,  if  the  spirit  of  the  young 
colt  should  not  sometimes  break  out  with  newly  en 
joyed  liberty ;  and  stranger  still,  if  young  men  taught 
the  value  of  property  by  an  apprenticeship  of  seven  or 
eight  years,  should  not  be  sometimes  found  covetous 
and  greedy.  But  these  are  evils  necessarily  incident  to 
the  working  of  a  good  system,  and  tell' nothing  against 
it,  any  more  than  do  the  infirmities  and  faults  of  Chris 
tians  against  Christianity,  which  yet  are  the  husks  that 
swinish  men  do  eat. 

If  the  nation  is  to  be  permanently  elevated  and  en 
lightened,  some  of  its  youth  must  be  educated  and  dis 
ciplined  in  such  an  Institution  as  this  is  meant  to  be. 
If  some,  upon  whom  pains  and  expense  are  bestowed, 
prove  worthless,  it  is  only  what  experienced  men  expect, 
and  does  not  blind  their  eyes  to  the  good  that  has  been 
done,  or  quench  their  hopes  for  days  to  come. 

There  have  been  some  painful  disclosures  of  immo 
rality  at  Lahainaluna,  that  have  resulted  in  the  dismis 
sion  of  eight  or  ten  of  the  students,  and  the  purging 
out  of  some  of  the  old  leaven.  But  their  offences, 
though  flagrant,  were  such  as  (if  we  are  not  mistaken) 
would  hardly  have  caused  expulsion  from  a  New  Eng 
land  College. 

In  a  community  like  that  at  these  Islands,  where  the 
laws  are  so  much  ahead  of  the  morals,  and  where  the 
religious  teachers  are, endeavoring  to  form  a  public  sen 
timent  of  abhorrence  towards  vice,  it  is  perhaps  neces- 


LAWS  IN  ADVANCE  OF  MORALS.          207 

sary  that  offences  against  purity  should  be  punished 
more  rigidly  than  they  would  be,  were  there  more  of 
positive  virtue  and  less  of  vice.  But  we  cannot  help 
saying  with  the  Roman  poet,  "  Quid  leges,  (and,  we 
might  add,  quidpcence,}  sine  morifois  ?" 

Of  what  avail  are  laws  and  penalties, 
Unless  there  be  a  virtuous  moral  sense, 
A  public  conscience  to  frown  upon 
And  render  immorality  disgraceful  ? 

The  faculty  would  be  much  relieved  and  aided  in  the 
guardianship  and  discipline  of  the  Seminary,  and  a 
great  deal  of  moral  mischief  would  doubtless  be  pre 
vented,  if  they  had  a  suitable  man  to  be  entirely  de 
voted  to  its  secular  interests,  and  to  inspect  the  youth 
in  their  hours  of  relaxation,  labor,  and  rest.  But  either 
the  right  man  has  been  always  wanting,  or  to  the  ruling- 
Missionary  Board  in  America  it  has  not  seemed  proper 
to  send  one. 

"Wisdom  eighteen  thousand  miles  off,  and  legislating 
like  a  mother-country  over  her  colonies  at  the  Antipo 
des,  is  necessarily  far  from  being  perfect.  It  has  all 
the  disadvantage  of  a  lever  of  the  third  power,  the 
fulcrum  at  one  end,  the  wreight  to  be  raised  at  the  other, 
and  the  power  to  be  applied  between  the  fulcrum  and 
resistance ;  so  that  the  weight  being  so  much  further 
from  the  centre  of  motion  than  the  power,  the  difficulty 
of  raising  it  is  increased  rather  than  diminished. 

Thus,  the  Prudential  Committee  of  the  American 
Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions  is  the 
fulcrum,  like  the  ground  to  a  man  trying  to  raise  a  long 


208  LIFE   IN    THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

ladder ;  the  missionaries  the  other  side  of  Cape  Horn 
are  the  man's  arms  lifting,  and  the  poor  people  of  Ha 
waii,  the  long  and  heavy  arm  of  the  ladder  to  be  raised. 
Now,  if  the  fulcrum  could  be  moved  nearer  to  the 
weight,  and  the  lever  turned  into  one  of  the  first  power, 
it  would  work  to  much  greater  advantage. 

This  is  in  fact  practically  being  done  in  the  present 
movement  towards  .independency  of  the  Hawaiian 
churches;  for  the  lapse  of  time,  and  the  extraordinary 
blessing  of  God  upon  missionary  operations  at  the 
Sandwich  Islands,  are  now  bringing  to  pass  a  revolu 
tion,  which  is  s.een  in  the  late  separation  of  a  number 
of  missionaries  from  their  pecuniary  relation  to  the 
Board,  and  their  consequent  independency,  and  in  the 
adoption  by  Government  of  the  College  at  Lahaina- 
luna. 

This  will  both  relieve  the  treasury  of  the  Board,  and 
supersede  the  necessity  of  much  cis- Atlantic  manage 
ment  and  counselling  on  the  part  of  the  Secretaries  of 
the  Board,  who  will  soon  be  able  to  forego 'or  renounce 
all  other  relations  to  the  Pacific  Mission  churches,  ex 
cept  such  as  the  American  Home  Missionary  Society 
sustains  to  its  churches  in  the  West. 

In  the  language  of  the  Committee,  "  they  seek  to 
facilitate  the  independent  settlement  of  the  members  of 
the  Sandwich  Island  Mission,  as  pastors  and  teachers 
at  the  Islands,  and  to  place  those  who  cannot  yet  obtain 
a  living  on  the  same  footing  with  our  home  mission 
aries.  And  they  expect  by  this  means  to  enable  and 
induce  the  missionaries  generally  to  remain  at  the  Isl- 


THE   FUTURE   BASIS   OF   HAWAIIAN   SOCIETY.          209 

ands  with  their  families,  and  thus  insure,  through  the 
divine  blessing,  a  Puritan  basis  for  the  community, 
whatever  it  shall  be,,  which  is  to  exist  on  those  Isl 
ands." 

In  the  event  of  an  American  Protectorate,  at  the  re-  • 
quest  of  the  Hawaiian  government,  or  of  annexation  to 
the  United  States,  (one  of  which  measures  would  seem 
to  be  almost  indispensable  for  the  protection  of  these 
Islands  against  the  insults  and  aggressions  of  the 
French,)  the  future  Sandwich  Island  community  must 
be  substantially  an  American  community,  moulded  to 
a  great  degree  by  American  missionaries.  It  is  there 
fore  a  matter  of  congratulation  to  the  philanthropist 
who  looks  to  the  future  good  of  the  human  race,  and  to 
the  patriot  who  would  rear  an  intelligent  and  Chris 
tian  nation  in  the  Heart  of  the  Pacific,  that  the  fore 
most  men  at  the  Sandwich  Islands  are,  or  have  been, 
missionaries,  actuated  by  one  prevalent  desire,  the  per 
petuation  and  improvement  of  the  Island  race,  whether 
pure  or  mixed. 

In  this  the  missionaries  all  agree.  But  familiar  in 
tercourse  with  the  different  members  of  the  Hawaiian 
Mission,  while  it  has  made  known  an  excellent  spirit  of 
concord  and  fraternal  esteem  between  its  members,  has 
also  caused  me  to  be  acquainted  with  some  natural 
differences  of  opinion  on  things  pertaining  to  the  .con 
duct  of  missionary  operations,  and  the  enlargement  and 
discipline  of  native  churches. 

Some  are  of  opinion  that  it  is  best  to  keep  one  door 
of  the  church  always  open,  and  make  sure  of  admitting 


210  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH  ISLANDS. 

all  the  sheep  by  it,  and  afterwards  to  eject  all  the  goats,  • 
as  they  are  discovered,  by  a  back  door. .    Or,  as  others 
express  it,  that  they  must  keep  a  little  stream  running 
through  the  church,  in  order  to  keep  up  their  congrega 
tions,  and  save  some  from  going  to  the  Catholics. 

1S 
Others,  on  the  contrary,. of  the  conservative  stamp, 

argue  that  the  Church  being  the  practical  exposition  of 
Christianity,  there  is  danger  of  its  losing  respect  and 
moral  power  by  a  .great  many  dismissions  and  excom 
munications — that  more  harm  is  done  by  getting  into 
the  church  a  good  many  hypocrites,  than  by  keeping 
out  of  it  a  few  good  Christians — -that  a  church  of  twelve 
truly  regenerated  is  worth  more,  for  good,  than  a  church 
of  twelve  times  twelve,  a  good  part  of  them  deceivers 
or  self-deceived. 

They  contend  that  some  who  are  admitted  to  the 
church  do  not  know  enough  to  be  Christians.  It  has 
been  thought  that  in  a  church  at  one  time  of  one  thou 
sand  professed  converts  on  the  Island  of  Oahu,  there 
were  hardly  ten  Christians.  Its  pastor  informed  me 
that  of  forty  young  persons  admitted  not  until  six 
months  after  he  hoped  they  were  Christians,  there  were 
only  two  or  three  that  had  not  been  disciplined  for 
lewdness,  and  become  worthless  and  depraved.  The 
difficulty  which  some  conscientious  men  find  in  satisfy 
ing  themselves  of  the  suitableness  of  candidates  for  the 
church  is  very  great,  such  are  the  darkness  and  igno 
rance  of  a  heathen  mind. 

When  Mr.  Alexander,  one  of  the  Lahainaluna  teach 
ers,  was  a  pastor,  and  used  to  visit  his  people  sixteen 


211 


years  ago,  on  the  Island  of  Kauai,  from  house  to  house 
on  week-days,  he  told  me  that  he  has  often  taken  one 
single  truth  of  Scripture  and  turned  it  over  and  over 
this  way  and  that  way,  racked  his  brain  for  illustrations, 
and  explained  it  in  diverse  forms,  and  then  has  asked 
a  question  to  try  how  far  the  mind  was  instructed,  and 
found,  to  his  grief,  that  the  person  knew  nothing.at  all — • 
did  not  appear  to  have  received  a  single  correct  idea. 

Then  he  would  return  and  go  through  again  the  same 
process  of  explaining  and  simplification,  at  length  ask 
again  some  test  question,  and  finding,  as  before,  they 
seemed  to  have  apprehended  nothing,  would  have  the 
melancholy  query  to  put  to  himself,  What  do  they  know 
of  my  sermons  ? 

Frequently,  when  the  people  would  come  to  tell  him 
their  manao,  (thought  or  mental  exercise,)  as  that  their 
sins  were  as  many  as  the  sands  upon  .the  sea-shore,  or 
as  the  stars  of  the  sky,  or  the  leaves  upon  the  trees,  or 
the  fish  in  the  sea,  he  would  interrupt  them  by  some 
question,  to  which  they,  saying  over  in  their  minds  their 
manao  lest  they  should  forget  it,  would  not  be  able  to 
give  any  definite  answer,  but  would  be  stumbled  and 
balked  by  the  simplest  inquiry  about  the  nature  of  sal 
vation. 

Ask  them  again,  sometimes,  how  they  were  to  be 
saved,  and  they  would  answer,  by  praying — by  breaking 
off  sin — seldom  by  faith  in  Christ.  "Do  you  sin  now?" 
"  No."  "  Do  you  not  have  evil  feelings  ?"  "  I  used  to, 
but  don't  now." 

Their  answers  were  not  always  out  of  the  way,  but 


212  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

frequently  witty  and  to  the  point.  As  Mr.  Alexander 
was  once  asking  some  of  his  people  about  depravity, 
and  how  they  would  express  their  moral  state,  he  was 
aptly  answered,  We  are  all  like  rotten  eggs.  Some  of 
the  first  inquirers  at  the  Islands  said  to  the  early  mis 
sionaries,  "  My  heart  is  dark :  you  are  light,  and  must 
enlighten  it."  Another,  u  My  heart  is  a  wilderness, 
you  must  cultivate  it."  Another,  "  My  heart  is  a  lamp, 
you  must  fill  it  with  oil."  Another,  "  My  heart  is  a 
dry  field,  you  must  water  it." 

So  an  old  man  in  the  interior  of  Africa,  when  his 
people  were  asked  by  the  missionary  whether  they 
would  not  like  to  be  taught  the  truths  of  God's  word, 
replied  that  "they  were  like  men  lost  far  off  in  the  bush, 
and  in  darkness,  unable  to  find  their  way  out/*  The 


*  The  experience  of  a  thoughtful  pagan  shrouded  in  the  dense  dark 
ness  of  heathenism,  yet  feeling  after  God,  is  strikingly  exhibited  in  the 
talk  of  a  Bechuana,  called  Sekesa,  with  a  missionary  from  whom  he  had 
been  hearing  the  Gospel : 

"  Your  views,"  O  white  man,  are  just  what  I  wanted  and  sought  for 
before  I  knew  you.  Twelve  years  ago  I  went,  in  a  cloudy  season,  to  feed 
my  flock  along  the  Tlotse,  among  the  Malutis.  Seated  upon  a  rock,  in 
sight  of  my  sheep,  I  asked  myself  sad  questions ;  yes,  sad,  because  I 
could  not  answer  them.  The  stars,  said  I,  who  touched  them  with  his 
hand  ?  On  what  pillars  do  they  rest  ?  The  waters  are  not  weary  ;  they 
run  without  ceasing,  at  night  and  morning  alike ;  but  where  do  they 
stop  ?  or  who  makes  them  run  thus  ?  The  clouds  also  go,  return,  and 
fall  in  water  to  the  earth.  Whence  do  they  arise  ?  Who  sends  them  ? 
It  surely  is  not  the  Barokas  (rahvmakers)  who  gave  us  the  rain,  for  how 
could  they  make  it  ?  The  wind— what  is  it  ?  Who  brings  it,  or  takes 
it  away,  makes  it  blow,  and  roar,  and  frighten  us  ?  Do  I  know  how  the 
corn  grows  ?  Yesterday,  there  was  not  a  blade  to  be  seen  in  my  field. 
To-day,  I  return  and  find  something.  It  is  very  small ;  I  can  scarcely 


STRIKING    EXPERIENCE    OF    THE    PAGAN    MIND.        213 

missionary  seemed  a  kind  friend  meeting  them,  and 
offering  to  conduct  them  home." 

The  missionaries,  to  a  man,  testify  to  the  extreme 
difficulty  of  preaching  simply  enough  for  the  Hawaiian 
mind.  Doubtless  many  sermons,  especially  from  young 
missionaries,  quite  fail  of  giving  instruction  because 


see  it,  but  it  will  grow  up  like  to  a  young  man.  Who  can  have  given  the 
ground  wisdom  and  power  to  produce  it  ?  Then  I  buried  my  forehead 
in  my  hands. 

"  Again  I  thought  within  myself,  and  I  said,  We  all  depart,  but  this 
country  remains ;  it  alone  remains,  for  we  all  go  away.  But  whither 
do  we  go  ?  My  heart  answered,  Perhaps  other  men  live,  besides  us, 
and  we  shall  go  to  them.  A  second  time  it  said,  Perhaps  those  men 
live  under  the  earth,  and  we  shall  go  to  them.  But  another  thought 
arose  against  it,  and  said,  Those  men  under  the  earth,  whence  come 
they  ?  Then  my  heart  did  not  know  what  more  to  think.  It  wandered. 
Then  my  heart  rose  and  spoke  to  me,  saying,  All  men  do  much  evil,  and 
thou,  thou  also  hast  done  much  evil.  Woe  to  thee  !  I  recalled  many 
wrongs  which  I  had  done  to  others,  and  because  of  them  my  conscience 
gnawed  me  in  secret,  as  I  sat  alone  on  the  rock.  I  say  I  was  afraid. 
I  got  up,  and  ran  after  my  sheep,  trying  to  enliven  myself;  but  I  trem 
bled  much  !" 

In  like  manner  a  certain  man  on  the  Malabar  coast  had  inquired  of 
various  devotees  and  priests,  how  he  might  make  atonement  for  his 
sins.  At  last  he  was  directed  to  the  following  means :  He  was  to  drive 
iron  spikes,  sufficiently  blunted,  through  his  sandals ;  on  these  spikes  he 
was  to  place  his  naked  feet,  and  walk  250  coss.  (about  480  miles.)  If 
through  loss  of  blood,  or  weakness  of  the  body,  he  was  obliged  to  halt, 
he  might  wait  for  healing  and  strength.  He  undertook  the  journey  ; 
and  while  he  halted  under  a  large  shady  tree,  where  the  Gospel  was 
sometimes  preached,  one  of  the  missionaries  came  and  preached  in  his 
hearing  from  these  words  :  "  The  blood  of  Jesus  Christ,  his  Son,  cleanseth 
us  from  all  sin."  While  he  was  preaching  the  man  rose  up,  threw  off 
his  torturing  sandals,  and  cried  aloud,  "  This  is  what  I  want — This  is  what 
I  want ;"  and  he  became  a  lively  witness  that  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ 
cleanses  from  all  sin. 


LIFE    IN    THE    SANDWICH    ISLANDS. 


they  give  too  much,  and  are  deficient  in  a  reiterating 
simplicity.  Many  of  the  commonest  ideas,  too,  which 
we  have  from  very  childhood,  natives  are  utterly  des 
titute  of. 

Tell  an  Hawaiian  that  we  are  God's  because  he  made 
us,  and  it  is  no  reason  at  all  to  them,  for  they  have  all 
along  till  now  been  in  the  habit  of  making  canoes,  cul 
tivating  food,  manufacturing  kapa,  and  the  like,  and 
having  it  immediately  taken  away  from  them  by  their 
chiefs  ;  so  that  the  making  of  a  thing  by  no  means  with 
them  constituted  ownership.  So  to  preach  to  them 
from  the  text  in  which  God  challenges  honor  from  thev 
paternal  relation  which  he  stands  in  to  men,  "  If  I  be 
a  father,  where  is  mine  honor?"  makes  little  impression, 
because  they  are  a  people  among  whom  the  filial  rela 
tions  and  duties  have  been  hitherto  so  little  regarded. 

In  like  manner,  to  tell  them  God  loveth  whom  he 
chasteneth,  and  scourgeth  every  son  whom  he  receiveth  ; 
that  he  chastens  them  in  love  as  a  father  does  the  son 
in  whom  he  delighteth,  is  to  say  what  they  cannot  ap 
preciate,  and  know  nothing  of,  for  they  never  punish 
their  children,  but  when  they  are  liuliu  roa,  that  is, 
mad. 

And  here  I  am  reminded  of  what  an  English  mis 
sionary  says  of  his  similar  experience  in  the  East. 
"  They  (the  natives)  have  the  most  expressive  terms  for 
sin  and  holiness,  and  the  duty  of  worshipping,  and  they 
will  hear  you  with  approbation  while  discoursing 
vaguely  on  these  qualities,  and  yet  they  attach  no 
proper  meaning  to  the  terms,  and  will  totally  misun- 


MISCONCEPTIONS    OF    RELIGIOUS    TRUTH.  215 

derstand  you.  While  discoursing  on  sin,  they  will 
think  you  mean  insulting  a  Bramin,  or  'killing  a  cow, 
or  some  such  thing ;  and  while  on  holiness,  that  you 
mean  making  offerings  to  their  idols,  or  going  on  pil 
grimages,  and  performing  some  acts  of  external  self- 
mortification.  "With  such  notions  as  these  in  regard  to 
sin,  and  holiness,  and  repentance,  and  worship,  they 
can  hardly  be  said  to  have  a  conscience,  and  you  have 
yet  to  form,  or  rather  to  mould,  one  within  them." 

But  all  this  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding,  and 
maugre  all  that  may  be  said  on  the  dark  side  of  native 
character  and  piety,  we  are  sure  that  they  have  learned 
a  great  deal  of  the  Gospel  at  the  Sandwich  Islands,  and 
that  multitudes  among  them  have  felt  its  power.  And 
we  have  noted  the  memorandum,  (whether  right  or 
wrong,)  that  the  older  missionaries  grow,  and  the  more 
thoroughly  they  become  acquainted  with  native  char 
acter,  and  the  language,  the  more  they  have  of  charity. 

Mr.  Alexander,  when  pastor  of  the  church  at  Waioli, 
on  the  island  of  Kauaif  admitted  one  hundred  and 
twenty.,  and  he  fears  that  may  have  been  too  many. 
"  Not  (he  says)  that  the  Gospel  has  been  preached  in 
vain — I  believe  that  there  are  not  a  few  sincere  converts ; 
but  I  have  discovered  such  a  disposition  in  the  people 
to  make  the  attainment  of  church-membership  a  para 
mount  aim,  that  I  have  felt  like  adopting  the  sentiment 
of  the  great  Apostle  to  the  Gentiles :  Christ  sent  me 
not  to  baptize,  but  to  preach  the  Gospel." 

Other  pastors,  equally  conscientious  and  engrossed 
with  preaching  the  Gospel,  were  admitting  at  the  samo 


216  LIFE   IN    THE    SANDWICH    ISLANDS. 


time  (the  period  of  the  Great  Revival)  hundreds,  and 
even  thousands,  in  the  hope  that  they  were  the  children 
of  God,  and  believing  that  a  place  in  his  church  was 
their  right. 

Mr.  Hitchcock,  the  laborious  missionary  on  Molokai, 
testifies  in  regard  to  that  work  thus :  "  A  greater  num 
ber  of  the  fruits  of  that  revival  give  little  or  no  evi 
dence  of  conversion,  than  do  the  same  number  of  those 
who  were  received  before.  And  may  not  the  same  be 
said  of  great  revivals,  in  general,  in  every  part  of  the 
world?  I  have  not  the  means  of  determining  how 
much  the  cases  of  discipline  in  this  church  exceed 
those  of  the  same  size  in  the  United  States.  Prob 
ably  the  excess  may  be  considerable.  In  estimating, 
however,  the  amount  of  the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
the  truth  will  not  be  come  at  by  mere  comparisons  in 
-numbers. 

"  It  must  be  remembered  that  the  converts  here  were 
taken  from  the  lowest  depths  of  ignorance  and  moral 
debasement,  and  many,  yea,  ajl  of  them,  have  lived  in 
habits  of  falsehood  and  many  other  overt  sins,  until 
such  habits  have  become  a  second  nature  to  them.  All 
those  powerful  influences  which  co-operate  with  the 
grace  of  God  in  restraining  converts  from  sin  in  our 
native  land,  are  wholly  wanting  here. '  Let  it  be  sup 
posed,  for  a  moment,  that  all  those  who  entered  the 
church  as  fruits  of  any  great  revival  in  New  England, 
have  been  destitute  of  parental  influence,  destitute  of 
conscience,  destitute  of  any  true  sense  of  the  worth  of 
character,  and  having  lived  to  the  moment  of  their  con- 


HAWAIIAN   AND   AMERICAN   CHURCHES   COMPARED.     217 

version  in  the  midst  and  in  the  practice  of  licentious 
ness. 

"  It  is  easy  to  perceive  that,  even  allowing  them  to 
have  been  true  converts,  many  more  cases  of  discipline 
might,  and  probably  would  have  occurred  in  those 
churches,  than  can  be  expected  to  occur  now.  What 
we  have  supposed  of  the  converts  in  such  a  New  Eng 
land  revival,  is  fact  with  converts  at  the  Sandwich  Isl 
ands.  The  fact,  therefore,  that  cases  of  sin  and  dis 
orderly  conduct  are  more  frequent  here  than  there,  does 
not  prove  that  the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  or  that  the 
number  of  real  conversions  here,  has  been  less  than 
there;  or  that  the  proportion  between  real  and  false 
conversions  in  the  Sandwich  Islands  revivals,  is  less 
than  in  those,  occurring  in  civilized  lands. 

"Taking  into  account  all  the  unfavorable  circum 
stances  of  the  members  of  th'e  church  of  which  I  have 
the  care,  their  great  ignorance,  the  limited  range  of 
their  ideas,  the  irresistible  influence  of  the  example  of 
their  ungodly  friends  and  of  society  in  general,  the 
force  of  early  education  and  habits  of  sin,  their  extreme 
poverty,  idleness,  and  aversion  to  thinking,  and  nu 
merous  other  adverse  influences  ;  the  grace  of  God,  in 
enabling  them  to  walk  as  consistently  with  the  Gospel 
as  they  do,  seems  to  me  more  evident  and  conspicuous 
than  it  does  in  churches  where  there  are  vastly  greater 
attainments  in  holiness,  but  where  adverse  influences 
do  not  exist,  and  where  there  are  ten  thousand  precious 
influences  acting  in  a  direct  line  with  that  grace." 

I  have  quoted  thus  at  length,  because  these  remarks, 

10 


218  LIFE    IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

and  the  whole  communication  from  which  they  are  ex 
tracted,  contain  a  better  view  of  Hawaiian  churches 
and  revivals  than  could  be  given  by  any  man  not  a 
missionary.  To  the  same  purport  is  an  earnest  letter 
from  Mr.  Coan,  in  the  same  number  of  the  Missionary 
Herald* 

It  has  often  appeared  to  me  that  truth  is  to  be  ar 
rived  at  from  comparing  the  differing  views  and  state 
ments  of  different  men,  very  much  as  a  ship's  longitude 
is  obtained  in  working  lunars.  The  labor  lies  in  ap 
plying  rightly  the  numerous  corrections,  now  on  this 
side  and  now  on  that.  There  are  the  first,  second,  and 
third  corrections,  with  their  proportional  logarithms. 
There  are  the  corrections  of  the  sun's  and  moon's  alti 
tudes,  for  parallax  and  refraction,  and  the  ieight  of  the 
observer  above  the  sea. 

There  are  the  corrections  of  declinations,  and  dis 
tances  as  calculated  in  the  Nautical  Almanac  at  the 
meridian  of  Greenwich,  for  the  meridian  of  the  ship. 
And  then  there  is  the  correction  for  the  seconds  of  the 
moon's  horizontal  parallax,  and  the  correction  for  equa 
tion  of  time,  and  other  things,  all  of  which  are  to  be 
exactly  applied,  and  the  variation  tables  carefully  con 
sulted,  before  the  navigator  can  find  .his  real  place. 
And  even  then  it  is  rarely  that  he  gets  it  by  a  lunar 
nearer  than  ten  or  fifteen  miles. 

So,  in  gathering  truth  from  the  observations  and  re 
ports  of  men,  you  have  to  take  into  account  the  place, 

*  Vol.  xxvii.,  p.  105. 


HOW   TO   FIND   THE   MERIDIAN   OF   TRUTH.  219 

and  profession,  and  leanings  of  the  observers.  You 
must  compare  and  correct  for  the  differences  of  mental 
parallax  and  altitudes  made  by  observers  from  different 
points  of  view.  You  must  note,  if  possible,  the  aberra 
tions  from  the  fixed  meridian  of  truth,  when  to  be 
added  and  when  subtracted.  The  various  deflections 
and  increase  or  diminution  made  by  prejudice  are  to 
be  ascertained.  The  dip  of  the  mind's  horizon  is  to  be 
noted,  and  the  different  degrees  of  refraction  made  by 
the  differences  in  men's  ordinary  intellectual  atmos 
pheres,  whether  clear  or  foggy.  There  is  a  correction 
to  be  made  according  as  you  find  the  observers  to.be 
short  or  long-sighted,  and  as  they  have  the  eye  of  an 
eagle  or  that  of  an  owl. 

And  finally,  there  is  an  allowance  to  be  made  in  the 
representations  given,  according  as  they  think  you  will 
use  and  steer  by  their  observations  or  not.  And,  after 
all,  if  you  have  patience  and  skill  to  apply  all  the  cor 
rections,  or  are  so  happy  as  to  be  able  to  do  it  by  intui 
tion,  even  as  rare  geniuses  are  said  sometimes  to  solve 
mathematical  problems,  yet  it  is  not  certain  that  your 
result  will  be  absolute  truth.  And  it  is  seldom  that  a 
modest  man  will  peremptorily  challenge  another's  as 
sent  to  his  own  particular  conclusions. 

While  the  author  of  this  work  is  far  from  challenging 
assent  to  his  reasonings  and  inferences  from  things  at 
the  Sandwich  Islands,  either  as  presented  in  the  present 
volume,  or  in  "  The  Island  World  of  the  Pacific,"  he 
both  asks  and  expects  a  belief  in  his  facts,  which  he 
has  certified  to  be  accurate  and  true,  and  concerning 


220  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

which  he  affirms  only  what  he  well  knows.  Conclu 
sions  may  be  mistaken,  but  facts  are  fixed  and  reliable. 
From  the  facts  carefully  given  throughout  these  pages, 
]et  our  readers  draw  their  own  conclusions  as  to  the 
civilizing*  power  of  the  Gospel,  the  relative  values  ot 
the  Merchant  and  the  Missionary,  the  results  of  their 
united  labors,  and  the  prospects  of  humanity  for  time 
to  come  in  the  HEART  OF  THE  PACIFIC. 


*  Several  laws  have  been  recently  passed  by  the  Hawaiian  Govern 
ment,  to  promote  the  cause  of  Education  ;  among  them,  one  giving  the 
proceeds  of  certain  lands  for  educational  purposes ;  an  annual  tax  of 
two  dollars,  on  each  male  subject,  has  been  imposed,  for  the  same  gen 
eral  purpose ;  and  a  fine  of  one  dollar  is  exacted  of  every  child  who 
absents  himself  from  school,  and  a  fine  of  Jive  dollars,  if  the  absence  is 
the  parents'  fault.  Under  the  fostering  care  of  Government,  and  the 
encouragement  of  the  missionaries,  school  districts  are  now  formed  all 
over  the  Islands,  and  school-houses  have  been  erected  even  in  the  most 
remote  and  inaccessible  places. 


WOKK    OF   MISSIONARIES    IN  THE    BOOK    LINE,         221 


CHAPTER    X. 

SANDWICH    ISLANDS    LIIERATURE    AND    LETTER-WRITERS. 

As  there  are  two  wants  connatural  to  man,  so  there  are  two  main 
directions  of  human  activity  pervading,  in  modern  times,  the  whole 
civilized  world ;  constituting  and  sustaining  that  NATIONALITY,  which  yet 
it  is  their  tendency,  and  more  or  less  their  effect,  to  transcend  and  to 
moderate — namely,  TRADE  and  LITERATURE. 

S.  T.  COLERIDGE. 

Number  of  printed  works  in  the  Hawaiian  tongue— Literary  contributions  of  na 
tives—Newspapers  in  the  vernacular— An  original  work  on  Hawaiian  history- 
Installation  of  native  ministers — A  collection  of  old  meles — Translation  of  an  origi 
nal  song  on  the  creation— Specimens  of  Cupid's  epistolography— Letter  from  a 
damsel  of  Lahaina— Others  Jrom  students  of  the  Seminary— Samples  of  the  Ha 
waiian  madrigal— A  letter  from  the  Hilo  school-girls— Others  from  teachers  in 
Kohala— Curious  vernacular  idioms— Letters  from  men  of  Hawaii  to  a  society  of 
ladies  in  America — Comments  and  correspondencies — Unique  epistle  from  a  native 
teacher — Ingenuous  working  of  regenerated  minds— A  study  for  the  philosopher — A 
trophy  of  triumph  for  the  Christian— Other  specimens  of  Hawaiian  literature- 
Cheering  proofs  of  progress. 

IT  is  natural,  while  at  the  spring-head  of  Hawaiian 
learning,  at  Lahainaluna,  to  say  something  upon  the 
subject  of  Hawaiian  literature.  This,  indeed,  has  yet 
but  little  to  boast  of  as  purely  its  own.  But,  aside  from 
the  entire  Scriptures,  there  have  been  translated  and 
compiled  by  the  missionaries,  within  a  period  of  less 
than  thirty  years,  upwards  of  eighty  different  works.* 

• 

*  M.  Barrot,  a  French  Catholic  writer,  having  taken  occasion  to  cen 
sure  the  missionaries  at  the  Sandwich  Islands  for  not  printing  more 
books  in  the  Hawaiian  language,  upon  "  the  progress  of  industry  or  sci 
ence,"  and  a  less  number  upon  "  religious  subjects,  such  as  commentaries 


222 


LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 


Those  are  now  serving  for  reading,  reference,  and  class- 
books,  from  the  primer  of  A-B-C-darians,  up  to  the 
text-book  of  students  in  theology. 


on  the  Bible,  catechisms  for  the  use  of  the  natives,  and  hymn-books," 
the  editor  of  the  Honolulu  Friend  thus  replies : 

Whether  the  American  Missionaries  have  been  particularly  censurable 
in  this  respect,  we  leave  our  readers  to  infer  by  perusing  the  following 
catalogue  of  publications  issued  frorn  the  American  Mission  press  pre 
vious  to  1845: 


Elementary  Lessons. 

Decalogue  and  Lord's  Prayer. 

Scripture  Doctrines. 

Thoughts  of  the  Chiefs. 

Sermon  on  the  Mount. 

Hawaiian  Hymns. 

First  Book  for  ChMren. 

Universal  Geography. 

New  Testament. 

Fowle's  Child's  Arithmetic. 

Animals  of  the  Earth. 

Catechism  on  Genesis. 

Geometry  for  Children. 

Tract  on  Marriage. 

Sacred  Geography. 

Geographical  Questions. 

Bible-class  Book. 

Col  burn's  Arithmetic. 

History  of  Beasts. 

Lama  Hawaii,  newspaper. 

Hawaiian  Almanac. 

Vocabulary. 

Compend  of  Ancient  History. 

Union  Questions. 

Colb urn's  Sequel. 

History  of  Beasts  for  Children. 

Hawaiian  Teacher. 

Child's  Teacher. 

Daily  Food. 

Hawaiian  Grammar. 

First  Reading  Book  for  Children. 

Tract  on  the  Sabbath. 

Maps  of  U.  Geography. 

Scripture  Chronology  and  History. 

Hymns,  revised  and  enlarged. 

Hymns,  with  Tunes. 

Linear  Drawing. 

Little  Philosopher. 

English  and  Hawaiian  Grammar. 


Tract  on  Popery. 
First  Teacher  for  Children. 
Tract  on  Astronomy. 
Maps  of  Sacred  Geography. 
Sixteen  Sermons. 
Tract  on  Lying. 
Attributes  of  God. 
First  Book  for  teaching  English. 
Moral  Science. 
Key  to  Colburn. 
Heavenly  Mfenna. 
Hymns  for  Children. 
Hawaiian  History. 
Colburn's  Algebra. 
Anatomy. 
Scripture  Lessons. 

Mathematics,     Geometry,     Trigonometry, 
Mensuration,  Surveying,  and  Navigation. 
Tract  on  Intemperance. 
Bible-class  Book,  vol. -2. 
"  "       vol.  3. 

Keith's  Study  of  the  Globes. 
Volume  of  Sermons. 
Sandwich  Islands  Laws. 
English  and  Hawaiian  Lessons. 
Keith  on  the  Prophecies. 
Dying  Testimony  of  Christians  and  Infidels. 
Bailey's  Algebra. 
Reading  Book  for  Schools. 
Messenger,  semi-monthly. 
History  of  the  Sandwich  Islands  in  English. 
Hawaiian  Bible. 
Child's  Book  on  the  Soul. 
Natural  Theology. 
Nonanona,  newspaper. 
Articles  of  Faith  and  Covenant 
Church  Histoiy. 
Moral  Philosophy. 
Pilgrim's  Progress. 


LITERARY    CONTRIBUTIONS    OF    NATIVES.  223 

A  good  many  of  them  have  been  prepared  by  the 
teachers  of  the  Lahainaluna  Seminary;  one  of  the 
objects  of  which  is  declared  to  be  to  disseminate  sound 
knowledge  throughout  the  Islands,  embracing  general 
literature  and  the  sciences,  and  whatever  may  help  to 
elevate  the  people  from  their  present  ignorance  and 
degradation,  and  cause  them  to  become  a  thinking,  en 
lightened,  and  virtuous  nation. 

Another  object  of  kindred  consequence,  is  to  educate 
young  men  of  piety  and  promising  talents,  with  a  view 
to  their  becoming  assistant  teachers  of  religion,  or  fel 
low-laborers  with  the  missionaries,  in  propagating  the 
Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  among  their  destitute  and  dying 
countrymen,  and  throughout  all  the  islands  of  Poly 
nesia. 

These  objects  are  being  steadily  accomplished.  In 
fulfilment  of  the  first  end,  besides  acting  as  teachers 
and  filling  important  places  in  the  government,  the 
graduates  are  doing  something  towards  making  books 
and  forming  a  national  literature.  They  have  had  not 
a  little  to  do»in  framing  the  present  Hawaiian  code  of 
laws,  and  their  communications  to  the  Kumu  Hawaii, 
Nonanona,  and  Elele,  three  native  newspapers,  have 
been  numerous  and  often  pithy. 

It  was  members  of  the  Seminary,  also,  who  furnished 
the  written  matter  from  which  Mr.  Dibble  compiled  the 

We  regret  our  inability  to  place  beside  this  catalogue  the  list  of  pub 
lications  issued  from  the  Catholic  press.  We  have  never  met  with  but 
two  or  three  small  publications  printed  at  that  press,  and  they  were 
most  strictly  confined  to  the  peculiar  tenets  of  the  Romish  Church. 


224  LIFE   IN    THE    SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

volume  called  Moolelo  Hawaii,  or  Hawaiian  Annals, 
which  has  been  the  groundwork  of  two  of  the  Histories 
since  written  in  English.  A  valuable  article  on  the 
Decrease  of  Population  was  furnished  by  the  intelligent- 
native,  David  Malo,  now  a  licensed  preacher  of  the 
Gospel.  Several  of  the  Lahainaluna  graduates  have 
been  licensed  also  from  time  to  time  as  Evangelists. 
And  in  December  of  1849,  there  was  seen  the  first  in 
stance  of  the  ordination  and  installing  of  a  native  min 
ister,  as  the  independent  pastor  of  the  Congregational 
Church  at  Kahuka,  island  of  Oahu.  This  was  in  the 
person  of  Rev.  James  Kekela;,  a  graduate  of  the  Semi 
nary,  at  which  he  wag  for  several  years  a  beneficiary  of 
James  Sunewell,  Esq.,  of  Charlestown,  Massachusetts. 
The  first  teacher  at  Lahainaluna,  Eev.  L.  Andrews,  has 
in  his  possession  a  mass  of  old  Hawaiian  meles  (songs) 
which  he  gathered  and  wrote  down  with  much  care 
from  the  mouths  of  natives.  They  are  somewhat  after 
the  style  of  the  old  Greek  Ehapsodists,  and  they  are 
said,  by  competent  judges  who  have  seen  them  in 
manuscript,  to  be  good  specimens  of  the  ctecent  sort  of 
unwritten  Hawaiian  Literature,  containing  the  curious 
jumble  of  Hawaiian  mythology,  and  all  the  Norse-like 
fables  of  their  giant  kings  and  gods.  But  like  the  talk 
of  Gratiano  in  the  play,  it  is  all  an  infinite  deal  of  con 
fused  nonsense  and  nothing.  All  that's  worth  pre 
serving*  is  as  two  grains  of  wheat  in  two  bushels  of 
chaff;  you  shall  seek  all  day  ere  you  find  them ;  and 
when  you  have  them,  they  are  not  worth  the  search. 
A  later  mele,  on  the  creation,  by  Ke-Kupuohi,  an  old 


ORIGINAL    ODE   ON   THE   CREATION.  225 

chief  woman  of  Hawaii,  composed  after  having  read, 
for  the  first  time,  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis,  Mr.  An 
drews  translated,  as  follows : 

A   MELE    ON   THE    CREATION. 

God  breathed  into  the  empty  space, 
And  widely  spread  his  power  forth, 
The  spirit  flying,  hovered  o'er ; 
A  spirit  'tis,  a  shadow  of  what  is  good, 
A  shadow  of  heaven  is  the  Holy  Spirit. 

His  power  grasped  the  movable,  it  was  fast, 
Fast  was  the  separating  mass,  lest  it  should  move  ; 
;     It  moved  not,  God  made  it  fast : 
It  was  fast  by  the  power  of  His  will. 

The  earth  became  embodied, 
The  islands  also  rose,  they  rose  to  view, 
The  land  was  bare  of  verdure, 
And  desolate  the  earth. 
'Twas  earth  alone ; 
Earth  also  was  man, 
'Twas  God  that  made  him, 
By  him  also  were  all  things  made. 

He  caused  to  grow  the  verdure ; 
The  earth  was  decked  with  beauty. 
He  adorned  with  flower  the  shrubs : 
Beautiful  was  fhe  earth 
From  the  hand  of  God. 

God  made  this  wide-extended  heaven ; 
He  made  the  heavens,  long,  long  ago ; 
He  established  the  heavens  a  dwelling-place  ; 
He  dwelt  alone,  Jehovah  by  himself, 
The  Spirit  with  him. 

His  power  created  multitudes, 
Thousands,  myriads,  numberless, 
Until  the  heaven  was  full,  and  full  the  earth  ; 

10*  . 


226  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH    ISLANDS. 

Filled  with  righteousness,  with  power,  with  goodness, 
With  glory,  with  holiness,  with  mercy; 
Great  were  all  his  works. 

Through  God's  abounding  goodness, 
Vast  are  the  extended  heavens, 
Great  are  the  heavens  and  the  earth, 
Great  are  the  mountains,  and  the  sea ; 
The  work  of  God  alone, 
And  his  alone  the  power. 

He  fixed  the  sun  his  place ; 
But  the  islands  moved,  moved  the  islands, 
With  sudden,  noiseless,  silent  speed; 
We  see  not  his  skilful  work  : 
God  is  the  great  support  that  holds  the  earth. 

One  of  the  graduates  of  the  Seminary  wrote  an 
ode>  a  sort  of  funeral  elegy,  on  the  death  of  a  son  of 
Dr.  Judd,  a  translation  of  which  is  inserted  in  Mr. 
Jarves'  History  of  the  Sandwich  Islands,  that  is  truly 
touching  and  beautiful.  Some  others  have  occasionally 
appeared  elsewhere  that  possess  considerable  merit. 

I  have  been  not  a  little  amused  with  perusing  some  in 
tercepted  letters  that  passed  at  one  time  between  sundry 
lads  of  the  Lahainaluna  Seminary,  and  certain  of  the 
lasses  of  Lahaina.  They  are  too  good  specimens  of  the 
Hawaiian  madrigal,  and  of  an  Hawaiian's  sensibility 
to  love,  to  pass  unnoticed.  We  transcribe  some  ex 
tracts,  taken  down  as  Rev.  Mr.  Alexander,  the  mission 
ary  teacher,  was  interpreting  them  for  our  amusement. 
The  first  is  from  one  of  the  damsels  of  Lahaina,  to  her 
lover,  up  at  the  Seminary. 

Love  to  you,  who  speakest  sweetly,  whom  I  did  kiss.  My  warm 
affections  go  out  to  you  with  your  love.  My  mind  is  oppressed  in 


SPECIMENS   OF   NATIVE   LEr£TEK-WKITEES.  227 

consequence  of  not  having  seen  you  these  times.  Much  affection 
for  thee  dwelling  there  where  the .  sun  causeth  the  head  to  ache. 
Pity  for  thee  in  returning  to  your  house,  destitute  as  you  supposed. 
I  and  she  went  to  the  place  where  we  had  sat  in  the  meeting-house, 
and  said  she,  Let  us  weep.  So  we  two  wept  for  you.  And  we 
conversed  about  you. 

We  went  to  bathe  in  the  bread-fruit  yard :  the  wind  blew  softly 
from  Lahainaluna,  and  your  image  came  down  with  it.  We  wept 
for  you.  Thou  only  art  our  food  when  we  are  hungry.  We  are 
satisfied  with  your  love. 

It  is  better  to  conceal  this ;  and  lest  dogs  should  prowl  after  it, 
and  it  should  be  found  out,  when  you  have  read  this  letter,  tear  it  up. 

FEOM  ONE  OF  THE  LADS,  BOKI. 

Love  to  thee,  thou  daughter  of  the  Pandanus  of  Lanahuli.  Thou 
liina  kina*  which  declarest  the  divisions  of  the  wind.  Thou  cloud 
less  son  of  the  noon. — Thou  most  precious  of  the  daughters  of  the 
earth. — Thou  beauty  of  the  clear  nights  of  Lehua. — Thou  refresh 
ing  fountain  of  Keipi. — Love  to  thee,  O  Pomare,  thou  royal  wo 
man  of  the  Pacific  here.  Thou  art  glorious  with  ribbons  flying 
gracefully  in  the  gentle  breeze  of  Puna.  Where  art  thou,  my  be 
loved,  who  art  anointed  with  the  fragrance  of  glory  ?  Much  love 
to  thee,  who  dost  draw  out  my  soul  as  thou  dwellest  in  the  shady 
bread-fruits  of  Lahaina.  O  thou  who  art  joined  to  my  affection, 
who  art  knit  to  me  in  the  hot  days  of  Lahainaluna ! 

Hark !  when  I  returned  great  was  my  love.  I  was  overwhelmed 
with  love  like  one  drowning.  When  I  lay  down  to  sleep  I  could 
not  sleep;  my  mind  floated  after  thee.  Like  the  strong  South 
wind  of  Lahaina,  such  is  the  strength  of  my  love  to  thee,  when  it 
comes.  Hear  me;  at  the  time  the  bell  rings  for  meeting,  on 
Wednesday,  great  was  my  love  to  you;  I  dropped  my  hoe  and  ran 


*  Supposed  to  mean  a  beautiful  flower  that  grows  on  the  tops  of  the 
mountains,  where  sea  and  land  breezes  meet. 


228  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

away  from  my  work.  I  secretly  ran  to  the  stream  of  water,  and 
there  I  wept  for  my  love  to  thee.  Hearken — my  love  resembles 
the  cold  water  far  inland.  Forsake  not  thou  this  our  love.  Keep 
it  quietly,  as  I  do  keep  it  quietly  here. 

A  THIRD  FROM  ONE  OF  THE  STUDENTS. 

Love  to  thee,  by  reason  of  whom  my  heart  sleeps  not  night  nor 
day,  all  the  days  of  my  dwelling  here.  O  thou  beautiful  one,  for 
'  whom  my  love  shall  never  cease.  Here  also  is  this — at  the  time  I 
heard  you  were  going  to  Wailuku,  I  was  enveloped  in  exceeding 
great  love.  And  whenl  heard  you  had  really  gone,  great  was  my 
regret  for  you,  and  exceeding  great  my  love.  My  appearance  was 
like  a  sick  person  who  cannot  answer  when  spoken  to.  I  would 
not  go  down  to  the  sea  again,  because  I  supposed  you  had  not  re 
turned.  I  feared  lest  I  should  see  all  the  places  wThere  you  and.  I 
had  conversed  together,  and  walked  together,  and  I  should  fall  in 
the  streets  on  account  of  the  greatness  of  my  love  to  you.  I  how 
ever  did  go  down,  and  I  was  continually  longing  with  love  to  you. 
Your  father  said  to  me,  Won't  you  eat  with  us  ?  I  refused,  saying 
I  was  full.  But  the  truth  was,  I  had  eaten  nothing.  My  great  love 
to  you,  that  was  the  thing  which  could  alone  satisfy  me.  Presently, 
however,  I  went  to  the  place  of  K- — — ,  and  there  I  heard  you  had 
arrived.  I  was  a  little  refreshed  by  hearing  this.  But  my  eyes  still 
hung  down.  I  longed  to  see  you,  but  could  not  find  you,  though  I 
waited  till  dark.  Now,  while  I  am  writing,  my  tears  are  dropping 
down  for  you ;  now  my  tears  are  my  friends,  and  my  affection  to 
you,  O  thou  who  wilt  forever  be  loved.  Here  also  is  this :  consent 
thou  to  my  desire,  and  write  me,  that  I  may  know  your  love.  My 
love  to  thee  is  great,  thou  splendid  flower  of  Lanakahula. 

Now  we  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that  these  love 
lorn  products  of  Lahainaluna  and  Lahainlalo,  meant  for 
the  eye  of  the  loved  alone,  but  accidentally  brought  to 


SAMPLES   OF   THE   HAWAIIAN   MADRIGAL.  229 

my  inspection,  will  compare  favorably  with  many  a 
sonnet,  of  world-wide  notoriety, 

"  Made  to  his  mistress'  eyebrow," 

by  the  poet-lover,  in  lands  of  chivalry  and  song.  They 
are  the  strictly  natural,  unsophisticated,  and  therefore 
by  no  means  silly  effusions  of  the  youthful  Hawaiian 
mind,  under  the  liquescent  process  of  that  almost  uni 
versal  mental  solvent,  of  which  Coleridge  says, 

All  thoughts,  all  passions,  all  delights, 
Whatever  stirs  this  mortal  frame, 
All  are  but  ministers  of  love, 
And  feed  his  sacred  flame. 

Perhaps  it  is  hardly  fair  to  make  such  a  use  of  in 
tercepted  Hawaiian  madrigals,  but  they  will  have  in 
terest  for  the  curious  and  the  philosophic,  as  well  as  for 
the  swelling  heart  of  youth,  because  they  prove,  if 
nothing  else,  how  the  human  mind,  under  the'  sway  of 
the  passion  of  Love,  as  well  as  under  the  teachings  of 
Religion,  expresses  itself  after  the  same  way,  and  evinces 
the  same  phenomena,  whether  in  polite  Greek,  or  pro 
tean  English,  or  simple  Hawaiian. 

Let  us  now  compare  with  these  sui  generis  speci 
mens  of  Cupid's  Epistolography  at  the  Sandwich  Isl 
ands,  the  following  epistles  from  the  same  part  of  the. 
world  elicited  by  only  the  ordinary  sentiments  of  sin 
cere  friendship,  gratitude,  and  Christian  esteem. 

HILO,  HAWAII. 

Love  to  you,  Mr.  C .    Great  is  our  love  to  you,  in  consequence 

of  our  dwelling  together  so  pleasantly  at  Hilo  here.  Therefore, 
for  our  love  to  you,  we  have  made  a  pdlule  for  you. 


230  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

We  remember  all  your  words,  and  your  commands.  It  is  our 
mind  to  keep  them  all. 

This  also. — We  are  living  together  pleasantly  and  in  peace,  we 
school-girls  of  Mrs.  Coan.  If  you  should  hear  we  are  doing  those 
things  which  are  not  right,  then  your  heart  would  be  heavy. 

This  also. — We  remember  our  pleasant  walks  with  you  in  Hilo. 

Will  you  pray  much  that  we  may  live  in  tne  peace  (literally,  cool 
shade)  of  our  Lord  ? 

By  the  waves  and  the  winds  of  the  ocean  is  borne  this  our  thought 
of  love  to  thee. 

From  the  girls  of  the  Boarding-school  at  Hilo. 

Byrne, 

KALAMA. 

KOHALA,  HAWAII. 

Love  to  you,  Mr.  C .     This  is  my  thought  of  love  to  you.    I 

declare  it  to  you  on  this  white  paper,  and  with  this  black  ink,  that 
it  may  be  carried  on  the  wing  of  the  wind.  Great  love  to  you,  in 
whom  is  the  Spirit  of  God.  This  is  what  I  know  of  you.  You 
have  given  us  a  bell  for  our  meeting-house. 

These  are  some  also  who  have  assisted  us  in  building  our  house ; 
the  King,  wh6se  is  the  kingdom,  gave  only  sixty  dollars ;  and  the 
Governor  of  this  island  gave  only  forty  dollars,  and  the  members 
of  the  church  have  given  only  their  ninepence  and  their  twenty-five 
cents !  But  your  present  is  a  bell !  That  is  like — how  many  dol 
lars  ?  Therefore  my  love  for  you  has  burst  forth,  and  I  have  thought 
to  write  to  you.  Great  indeed  is  your  love  for  us ! 

Our  meeting-house  is  finished.     It  is  thatched  with  fo'-leaf  on  the . 
sides  and  ends,  and  with  cane-leaf  on  the  roof.     It  is  filled  with 
seats,  and  most  of  it  is  floored  with  boards ;  a  little  remains. 

This  also  I  declare  to  you.  There  is  trouble  in  the  church. 
Some  of  the  brethren  have  been  drinking  sour  potato  and  smoking 
tobacco.  By-and-by,  perhaps,  the  punishment  of  God  will  fall 
upon  us  of  Kohala,  if  we  do  not  run  into  Him  for  shelter.  The 
people  of  Kona  and  Kau  were  guilty  of  this  sin  before,  and  God  is 


LETTERS    FROM    MEN    OF   KOHALA.  231 

punishing  them.  There  is  a  great  famine  there,  and  after  years,  or 
months,  perhaps,  so  it  will  be  here.  The  beginning  of  this  evil  was 
with  the  land-officers.  This  it  is  that  I  declare  to  you.  Tell  to  us 
some  of  the  wonderful  things  done  in  your  land.  My  thought  is 
finished. 

By  me,  a  pupil  of  E.  Bond's  when  you  were  here  in  Hawaii. 

PAHIA. 

KOHALA,  HAWAII. 

Great  love  to  you,  Mr.  C ,  our  father  in  the  truth.  Love  and 

blessing  to  you  because  of  your  love  to  us  and  your  great  kindness. 
Because  also  of  your  stirring  up  the  brethren  in  the  United  States 
to  that  which  is  wanting  to  our  new  meeting-house  in  Kohala. 

We  are  very  happy  in  having  received  it,  (i.  e.  the  bell,)  arid  in 
hearing  its  voice — a  strange  voice !  Ended  now  are  the  old  things. 
The  horn  (shell  with  which  they  formerly  called  to  meeting)  is 
nothing  now  !  for  here  is  the  bell ! 

Concerning  the  bell  my  word  is  done. 

Here  is  this  new  thought.  I  declare  it  to  you.  Blessed  are 'we 
in  having  obtained  a  new  meeting-house !  It  is  an  excellent  house ! 
It  has  a  floor  of  boards,  nice  windows,  and  is  full  of  good  seats. 
All  our  wants  are  now  supplied  in  this  house. 

Here  is  this  new  thought,  too.  We  have  a  singing-school  here 
in  JKohala  now ;  there  are  a  great  many  pupils.  By-and-by,  per 
haps,  we  shall  understand  this  good  work.  If  the  pupils  are  atten 
tive  they  will  know  well.  That's  done. 

This,  too,  is  another  thought.  The  brethren  are  awaking.  A 
great  many  now  attend  meetings  on  the  Sabbath  and  on  other 
days.  Some  who  had  fallen  into  this  sin  and  that  sin,  have  returned 
again. 

This  is  my  very  last  thought  to  you.  Love  and  peace  be  to  you 
in  the  Lord  Jesus.  I  remember  you  in  .my  prayers  to  God  for  you, 
because  of  illness  in  your  body,  and  because  of  our  meeting  here 
in  Kohala.  And  I  praise  God,  too,  that  he  has  given  both  to  us 


232  LIFE    IN    THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

and  to  you  blessings  for  our  bodies  and  our  souls ;  to  us  a  teacher 
and  the  Sabbath,  His  word  and  good  things  a  great  many. 

I,  with  respect, 

KlLAKATJ. 

From  a  number  of  other  curious  and  original  manu 
script  specimens  of  the  Epistolary  Literature  of  the 
Sandwich  Islands  in  my  possession,  I  select  the  follow 
ing  to  a  society  of  American  ladies,  friends  of  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Bond,  who  had  sent  out  to  him  a  box  of  ready- 
made  clothing  for  the  use  of  his  school-boys.  Their 
short  way  of  naming  their  teacher  is  not  from  any  want 
of  politeness  or  of  reverence,  but  is  peculiar  to  the 
nation. 

Hawaiians  generally  know  nothing  of  the  titles  Mr. 
and  Madam,  or  of  Christian  and  surnames  united. 
Thus,  in  speaking  to  or  of  Rev.  Mr.  Thurston,  they 
would  say  Ecikina,  the  nearest  sound  to  Thurston  they 
can  utter.  And  so  of  his  wife  they  would  say  Kakina- 
Wahine,  the  woman  Thurston,  or  Thurston's  wife.  This 
is  curt  enough,  and  there  must  be  great  advance  in  the 
arts  of  civilization  before  they  will  come  to  Rabbi, 
Rabbi.  The  expression  "great,  perhaps,"  may  be 
taken,  if  the  reader  please,  to  indicate  that  they  meant 
to  keep  clear  of  all  flattery,  and  not  to  speak  positively, 
where,  after  all,  a  very  moderate  degree  of  love  might 
have  sent  the  garments.  It  will  be  noticed  that  they 
know  when  they  have  done,  a  thing  that  cannot  be  al 
ways  said  of  either  speakers  or  writers. 

Love  to  you,  Ladies  of  Hallowell,  in  America.  Great  is  your 
kindness  to  us,  in  giving  us  the  pantaloons  for  ourselves,  and  the 

. 


COMMUNICATIONS   TO   LADIES   IN    AMERICA.  233 

shirts  also.  We  are  now  clothed  in  the  garments  you  have  so  gen 
erously  given  us,  the  boys  in  this  High-school  of  Kohala.  Great, 
perhaps,  is  your  love  towards  us,  and  therefore  have  you  sent  iis 
these  fine  garments.  Love  to  you  all,  from  the  greatest  to  the  least 
of  you.  This  thought  is  done. 

Here  are  some  of  the  things  we  are  doing  in  Bond's  school: 

We  rise  early  in  the  morning,  wash  our  faces,  and  go  to  meeting, 
(our  morning  prayer-meeting ;)  and  when  we  return,  we  read  in  the 
Holy  Bible.  At  the  ringing  of  the  bell^  we  go  into  school ;  and 
when  school  is  out,  we  eat ;  and  afterwards  go  to  work.  We  have 
finished  one  half  of  the  garden  and  the  paths.  The  work  we  have 
done  looks  very  nice,  and  the  many  things  also  growing  in  the  gar 
den  are  beautiful. 

Here  is  another  thought  for  you.  What  kind  of  a  country  is 
yours?  Very  good,  perhaps,  and  pleasant,  and  not  hot;  and  the 
living  there,  too,  is  agreeable,  perhaps. 

This  thought  Is  finished. 

By  me, 

KEKIPI. 

•    IOLE,  KOHALA. 

Where  are  you  all,  Ladies  of  Hallowell,  in  America  ? 

Great  is  my  joy  and  my  desire  for  the  good  work  done  in  your  • 
country,  and  for  the  undertakings  there,  and  for  the  building  up  of 
the  kingdom  of  Jehovah.  This,  also,  for  your  aiding  us  with  pan 
taloons  and  shirts.  You  are  very  generous,  we  should  say.  That 
is  your  character.  Bond  has  given  them  to  us  who  dwell  in  these 
mean  houses  and  in  these  tattered  garments. 

This  is  the  reason  of  our  miserable  houses  and  clothes— the  dark- 
heartedness  of  our  fathers.  They  did  not  know  the  God  of  heaven, 
but  they  worshipped  lying  gods.  They  knew  not  Jehovah,  the  God 
that  made  heaven,  and  earth,  and  all  things.  Therefore  is  the  ig 
norance  of  the  present  race  of  people  in  these  Islands.  Because 
also  of  their  great  unbelief,  and  their  prayers  made  with  the  mouth 
only.  They  have  not  prayed  with  hearts  confessing  to  God. 


234:  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

Here,  also,  is  a  thought—to  tell  you  of  the  labors  of  our  teacher. 
These  are  a  great  many,  stirring  up  the  church,  teaching  in  the 
teachers'  school,  and  in  the  Sabbath-school,  and  in  the  High-school 
of  Kohala,  Hawaii. 
My  letter  is  finished. 

By  me, 

KALAMA. 

There  is  much  meaning  in  one  of  the  sentences  of  this 
last  writer,  who  is  an  assistant  .teacher  with  Mr.  Bond  : 
"  Because  also  of  their  great  unbelief,  and  their  prayers 
made  with  the  mouth  only  ;  they  have  not  prayed  with 
hearts  confessing  to  God."  Alas !  of  how  many  is  it 
too  true,  elsewhere  the  world  over,  in  the  words  of  that 
Scripture :  This  people  draw  near  me  with  their  mouth, 
and  with  their  lips  do  honor  me,  but  have  removed  their 
heart  far  from  me,  and  their  fear  towards  me  is  taught 
by  the  precept  of  men. 

But  have  removed  their  heart  far  from  me !  'Mission 
aries  are  tried  with  this  in  the  native  churches,  and  it 
'  grieves  them  deeply.  But  the  foreign  piety  at  the  Isl 
ands  has  much  more  of  the  professional  and  heartless 
in  it,  than  that  which  is  native-born.  There  are  certain 
professors  of  religion  who,  with  a  name  to  live,  do  show 
in  their  walk  so  little  interest  in  any  thing  that  per 
tains  to  life  and  godliness,  that  one  can  hardly  believe 
otherwise  than  that  the  heart  of  their  religion  is  quite 
eaten  out,  or  dried  up.  They  have  a  state  of  the  spir 
itual  being  like  marasmus  or  atrophy  of  the  body. 

If  their  piety  Has  not  completely  run  out  and  washed 
away,  you  cannot  feel  any  pulse  to  prove  they  have  a 


NATIVE   AND   FOREIGN   PIETY   COMPARED.  235 

heart  left ;  and  the  principle  of  spiritual  life,  if  by  bare 
possibility  it  do  yet  exist,  is  so  feeble  and  low,  that  they 
are  little  better  than  dead. 

Hence,  though  living  in  the  midst  of  a  people  just 
emerging  from  heathenism,  where  the  results  of  the 
Gospel  are  so  benignly  shown,  and  owing  their  own 
safety  and  well-being  to  that  Gospel,  they  yet  manifest 
no  interest  in  the  missionary's  religious  work,  are  never 
seen  at  the  monthly  concert  or  any  prayer-meeting, 
give  nothing  for  the  propagation  of  religion  among  Ha- 
waiians,  have  no  love  for  the  souls  of  natives  or  un 
civilized  humanity  .any  where,  and  would  willingly  see 
the  whole  race  melt  away,  and  their  place  supplied  by 
a  stock  they  could  have  more  complacency  in. 

The  same  is  true  of  some  visitors,  and  yet  more  tran 
sient  residents  at  the  Islands,  professing  piety.  They 
do  not  make  themselves  acquainted  with  the  nature, 
the  trials,  or  the  rewards  of  missionary  work.  They 
share  in  missionaries'  hospitality,  and  avail  themselves 
of  their  aid  in  travelling  from  place  to  place,  but  have 
little  or  no  sympathy  with  them  in  their  cares  and 
efforts  to  Christianize  the  people. 

They  see  them  at  their  homes  generally  comfortable 
and  happy,  sometimes  forming  some  of  the  happiest 
domestic  circles  in  the  world.  But  they  do  not  enter 
at  all  into  their  motives  as  missionaries,  their  anxieties, 
harassments,  responsibilities,  toils,  and  cares.  They  see 
in  the  natives  a  great  deal  that  is  offensive,  squalid,  and 
still  heathenish. 

Heathenism,  barbarism,  and  the  state  of  nature,  when 


236  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

you  come  to  be  in  contact  with  them,  are  stripped  of 
all  the  romance  that  is  apt  to  invest  the  life  and  work 
of  a  missionary  afar  off;  and  those  persons  not  having 
either  depth  of  piety,  or  love  for  souls,  or  sufficient  of 
riddance  from  selfishness,  to  become  interested  like  the 
missionary  in  the  personal  work  of  instructing  and  con 
verting  them,  are  actually,  in  practice,  less  engaged  in 
the  cause  of  missions  than  they  were  in  America.  And 
very  likely  they  may  go  home  and  have  less  sympathy 
for  missionaries,  less  charity  for  heathen  converts,  and 
less  regard  for  the  great  enterprise  of  the  world's  evan 
gelization,  than  they  had  before  visiting  this  most  high 
ly  favored  missionary  field. 

But  is  it  with  good  reason  ?  JSTo !  but  because  having 
eyes  they  see  not,  having  ears  they  hear  not,  neither  do 
they  understand  or  appreciate  missionary  work,  native 
character,  or  the  allowance  that  is  to  be  made  for  early 
training,  and  the  modifying  effect  even  upon  true  ex 
perimental  piety,  of  old  bad  examples,  usages,  habits, 
and  polluting  associations. 

I  write  not  without  a  meaning  and  a  reality  of  fact  in 
the  mind's  eye,  and  I  cannot  help  recommending  such 
persons  to  anoint  their  eyes  with  the  eye-salve  of  truth 
and  charity,  that  they  may  see ;  to  get  the  crust  of 
worldliness  and  vanity  rubbed  off  from  their  religious 
sensibilities,  which  is  so  apt  to  form  here,  and  to  resort 
earnestly  to  the  medicine  of  God's  word  and  prayer, 
in  order  to  work  off  from  their  systems  the  poison  of 
scandal,  which  both  travellers  and  residents  have  been 
heretofore  wont  to  imbibe  at  the  Sandwich  Islands. 


THE   BENIGN   EFFECT   OF   MISSIONS.  237 

I  close  this  chapter  of  unique  Hawaiian  letters  with 
one  more  from  a  native  teacher,  of  whom  Mr.  Bond 
says  in  forwarding  it,  "  The  writer  is  a  fine  young  man, 
one  of  our  most  promising  teachers.  His  own  entirely 
was  the  thought  to  write  you,  and,  according  to  his 
request,  I  translate  hastily  the  epistle." 

The  spirit  of  piety  it  breathes,  and  the  vein  of  Chris 
tian  simplicity  that  runs  through  it,  make  it  well  worth, 
preserving.  And  could  all  my  readers  see  the  original 
communication,  In  its  clear,  legible  handwriting,  and 
in  a  vernacular  which,  but  for  the  missionaries,  would 
still  have  been  kept  sealed  to  all  but  oral  expression, 
they  would  wonder,  even  more  than  men  do  now,  at  the 
strange  misrepresentations  of  some  persons  that  the 
Hawaii ans  are  not  a  Christian  people. 

It  is  a  matter  of  thankfulness  that  our  honored 
American  missionaries  there  resident,  are  too  strongly 
rooted  both  in  the  confidence  and  affection  of  the 
American  Church  and  nation,  for  the  slanderous  asper 
sions  upon  the  results  of  their  labors  to  be  for  a  moment 
believed.  The  success  of  the  Missionary  enterprise,  as 
demonstrated  at  the  Sandwich  Islands,  is  beyond  a 
doubt ;  and  there  are  thousands  of  hearts  devoutly 
thanking  God  for  it  every  day,  and  praying  fervently 
that  the  same  glorious  results  may  be  realized  every 
where. 

HALAULA,  KOHALA. 

Love  to  you,  Cheever,  who  hast  sent  your  love  and  good  wishes 
to  us.  Your  letter  was  received  by  Bond  in  November,  and  on  the 
Sabbath  after  the  Sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  the  brethren  of 


238  LIFE  IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

this  church  in  Kohala  heard  of  it.  Bond  declared  it  to  us,  and  also 
the  famine  in  Ireland  and  Scotland,  by  which  men  have  died. 

This  I  declare  to  you  :  it  is  a  hot  season  with  us  in  Kohala.  The 
ground  is  very  dry  because  of  the  sun,  and  has  been  so  these  seven 
months.  Yet  we  are  not  greatly  distressed  for  food.  The  water  in 
the  streams  is  dry.  God  has  indeed  granted  us  a  few  drops  of 
water  from  the  cloud-place,  and  the  food  is  benefited  thereby.  The 
food,  however,  is  scanty — very  little.  Even  in  kalo  lands,  where 
there  is  always  water,  the  kalo-patches  are  drying  up,  and  the  po 
tatoes  near  the  streams. 

The  Chinaman's  sugar-cane  near  Bond's  hou«e  is  fed  up  to  cattle. 
It  is  entirely  dry.  The  Chinaman  thinks  he  shall  leave  Kohala. 
That  thought  is  done. 

Your  aloha,  (the  bell,)  here  it  is  with  us  who  are  here.  It  calls 
us  on  Sabbath,  Wednesdays,  and  Saturdays ;  but  here  is  our  fault : 
we  do  not  obey  its  voice ;  children  and  parents  who  go  to  meeting. 
Bond  said,  "  When  the  bell  rings  let  all  come  in ;"  but  we  do  not 
so ;  some  go  in  a  little  while  after  the  bell  has  done  ringing,  and 
some  stay  out.  For  all  meetings  it  calls  us  with  its  ringing  voice. 
It  can  call  us  as  far  as  three  miles.  Bond's  scholars  do  not  have 
to  blow  the  conch-shell  with  their  mouths  now. 

Your  love  it  is  that  rings  constantly ;  pulled  by  the  hand,  it 
sounds. 

Much  love  to  you,  because  of  your  good  counsel  to  us  in  the 
work  of  the  Lord.  Great  was  my  love  to  you  when  I  heard  from 
Bond  this  declaration,  "  Cheever  sends  love  to  you,  brethren  of  Ko 
hala.  He  says  he  shall  not  forget  you  who  live  here."  Then  this 
was  my  thought  to  you — -Thou  art  sweet  honey  to  my  mind ;  as 
cool  refreshing  water  ftom  far  among  the  hills. 

Pray  to  God  for  us,  you  and  the  brethren,  that  we  may  not  come 
into  distressing  famine  and  death,  as  we  have  heard  about  the  suf 
fering  in  Ireland  and  Scotland ;  but  that  we  may  prosper,  as  does 
the  country  of  your  birth.  That  great  country  aids  Great  Britain 
with  love,  and  according  to  the  greatness  of  intelligence  in  your 


INGENUOUSNESS   OF   THE   HAWAIIAN   MIND.  239 

land,  in  carrying  to  them  without  avaricious  motives.  That  just 
consists  with  God's  word,  Matthew  v.  45 — "  That  ye  may  be  the 
children  of  your  Father  which  is  in  heaven ;  for  he  maketh  his  sun. 
to  rise  on  the  evil  and  on  the  good,  and  sendeth  rain  on  the  just 
and  on  the  unjust;"  and  1st  Timothy  vi.  17,  18 — "Charge  them 
that  are  rich  in  this  world,  that  they  be  not  high-minded,  nor  trust 
in  uncertain  riches,  but  in  the  living  God,  who  giveth  us  richly  all 
things  to  enjoy;  that  they  do  good,  that  they  be  rich  in  good  works, 
ready  to  distribute,  willing  to  communicate." 

Your  people  have  shown  love  for  man,  for  the  spirit-thing.  Great 
indeed  was  my  joy  in  hearing  about  it.  Great  is  my  love  for  those 
who  are  dying  in  such  distress.  We  have  prayed  in  monthly  con 
cert  for  the  perishing,  and  have  pledged  ourselves  to  aid  them. 
God  will  bless  those  whose  country  is  distressed  by  famine.  May 
he  grant  them  a  fruitful  soil,  that  food  may  grow  abundantly,  even 
as  the  United  States  has  contributed  in  behalf  of  Great  Britain. 

Love  to  you,  my  friend,  in  the  cause  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
Pray  for  us  just  as  we  do  for  you.  With  Jesus  is  everlasting  love." 
Amen. 

By  me, 

% 

JOHN  WILLIAM  KAILIHALAPIA. 

'Now  we  challenge  the  production  of  any  thing  in 
the  early  annals  of  nations,  more  demonstrative  of  the 
genuineness  of  their  evangelization,  than  such  ingenuous, 
childlike  workings  of  the  native  Polynesian  mind,  in 
the  first  generation  after  it  has  come  forth  in  its  grave- 
clothes,  as  it  were,  out  of  the  utter  darkness  of  heathen 
ism  !  The  course  of  Divine  Providence  and  grace,  in 
the  regeneration  of  the  Sandwich  Islands,  is  a  subject 
for  adoring  wonder,  gratitude,  and  praise  ;  and  the  de 
velopments  of  the  intellect,  as  well  as  of  the  resources 
of  the  Islands  under  the  benignant,  productive,  yea, 


240  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

creative  influences  of  the  Gospel,  should  be  matter  of 
deepest  interest,  even  to  the  mere  philosopher. 

Witness,  also,  the  following  from  six  native  female 
converts  at  the  Sandwich  Islands,  accompanying  a  bed- 
quilt  by  them  made  and  sent  to  the  New  York  Home 
for  the  Friendless : 

KALUAALAO,  October  29tlv  1849 

Our  love  to  you,  good  people,  who  live  in  the  great  city  of  New 
York.  This  is  our  writing  and  request  unto  you,  that  you  give  unto 
those  persons  dwelling  in  the  House  of  the  Friendless,  and  orphans, 
this  small  gift,  which  we  send  unto  you. 

This  is  our  gift,  that  we  give  unto  you,  one  bed-quilt.  This  is 
our  gift,  and  with  it,  we  send  the  love  of  our  hearts  unto  you,  in 
whose  hearts  such  love  has  sprung  up,  for  the  friendless  ones  and 
the  orphan  children.  We  are  but  fewT  who  have  joined  in  this  work, 
but  having  heard  from  our  teacher  what  you  were  doing,  we  met 
together,  and  made  a  quilt  for  you  to  help  you  in  your  good  work 
for  the  Friendless  and  the  Orphans. 

No  one  prompted  us  to  do  this  thing,  we  did  it  of  our  own  accord. 
It  was  not  the  rich,  it  was  not  our  chiefs,  it  was  not  our  teachers, 
that  commanded  us  to  do  this ;  no,  it  was  from  the  overflowing  love 
of  God  in  our  hearts  that  compelled  us  to  do  it ;  it'  was  of  our  own 
free  will.  We  are  not  rich  who  do  this,  in  this  world's  riches,  but 
have  been  made  rich  by  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God,  as  we  hope,  and 
therefore  we  wish  to  aid  you  in  your  good  work. 
Yours  truly  in  behalf  of  the  others, 

W.'KALUNA. 

Of  a  later  date  is  the  following,  acknowledging  the 
gift  of  a  Communion  Service,  consisting  of  four  flagons, 
twelve  plates,  twelve  goblets,  and  two  baptismal  fonts, 
for  the  two  churches  in  Hilo  and  Puna,  under  the 
pastoral  charge  of  Rev.  Titus  Coan. 


24:1 


HILO,  HAWAII,  July  29th,  1850. 

Salutations  to  H.  T.  Cheever,  our  friend  in  the  Lord,  arid  servant  of  the 
Most  High  God: 

We  remember  you  on  account  of  our  associating  with  you  at  the 
time  you  abode  with  our  minister,  viz.,  T.  Coan.  You  were  one 
who  desired  to  lead  the  children  of  God  at  Hilo,  to  wit,  the  church 
of  Hilo,  island  of  Hawaii. 

Express  thou  our  love  to  thy  disciples,  viz.,  tha  brethren  in  the 
Lord  Jesus.  Their  love  and  beneficence  have  come  to  us.  Like 
your  seeing  our  faces,  so  is  your  giving  to  us  the  articles  necessary 
for  the  Supper  of  the  Lord,  in  your  true  love  to  us  from  the*  heart. 

The  love  of  God  first  flowed  from  his  people  dwelling  in  America, 
in  the  year  1820.  They  conceived  their  thought  and  labor  without 
doubting,  in  seeking  to  pluck  us  out  of  the  raging  heat  of  death. 
They  endured  patiently,  that  wandering  spirits  might  return  to  the 
place  of  rest.  Their  work  has  been  great  from  the  time  of  the  ar 
rival  of  the  first  American  missionaries,  Bingham,  and  others,  until 
the  present  time,  the  year  1850.  At  the  time  of  the  arrival  of  the 
missionaries,  we  were  living  in  the  blackness  of  hearts,  and  in  sins 
so  exceeding  great  that  they  cannot  be  expressed  on  this  paper  for 
shame  and  pollution. 

The  exceeding  love  and  benevolence  of  American  brethren  to 
wards  us  is  now  most  manifest,  according  to  the  words  of  Paul,  1st 
Cor.  xiii.  8-13. 

Of  the  life-declaring  Apostles  whom  they  sent,  first  in  the  year 
1820,  one,  Whitney,  nearly  perished  in  the  ocean.  He  fell  into  the 
sea ;  one  threw  him  a  board  from  the  ship,  by  which  he  escaped, 
and  obtained  the  vessel. 

They  have  been  patient,  that  their  mission  might  be  fulfilled. 
Two  of  them,  Bingham  and  Richards,  were  greatly  cursed  by  op 
posing  foreigners,  not  for  the  evil  of  their  works — they  labored  cor 
rectly — the  wicked  opposed  them  for  righteousness'  sake,  lest  their 
misehievousness  should  be  known. 

Through    their   patience  we  are  now  living  in   peace.     Some 

11 


242  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

taught  by  them,  have  taken  up  labors  to  benefit  the  kingdom. 
Some  have  been  governors,  magistrates,  collectors,  school-superin 
tendents,  school-trustees,  sheriffs,  lawyers.  Some  regulate  their  own 
affairs.  Every  tree  produces  its  own  specific  fruit,  according  to  the 
words  of  Jesus  Christ. 

That  stranger  and  this  stranger  have  brought  hither  the  things 
which  are  for  his  own  profit  to  bring,  and  these  little  Islands  are 
now  replenished  with  things  useful  to  man's  body.  But  this  com 
pany  (missionaries)  have  brought  hither  an  everlasting  treasure,  a 
good  thing  which  excels  all  good  things  which  our  eyes  have 
seen.  ' 

Previous  to  the  year  1820,  our  houses  were  dark  for  want  of  oil. 
Then  we  obtained  oil  without  wick,  the  thing  to  ignite  the  lamp ; 
but  through  the  kindness  of  God  which  was  made  to  spring  up 
within  these  true  friends,  they  sent  us  some  wicks  to  kindle  our 
lamps,  and  they  now  burn,  and  thus  until  1850  their  burning  has 
increased.* 

As  the  abundance  of  your  love  for  the  souls  of  the  wild  goats 
upon  the  mountains  of  the  Hawaiian  kingdom,  so  will  be  the  great 
ness  of  God's  love  and  blessing  on  you.  As  your  thought  is  on 
this  church,  so,  indeed,  is  our  pastor  and  true  friend — not  slothful — 
patient  amidst  all  the  evils  of  the  way:  and  this  his  unslothfulness 
will  be  a  capillary  attraction  to  draw  the  souls  of  this  people  to 
everlasting  life. 

Through  the  constant  care  of  all  your  friends  in  this  Hawaiian 
kingdom  for  us,  the  nation  is  good,  truly  dwelling  in  blessedness 
and  peace. 

In  the  name  of  the  church  at  Hilo,  I  am  your  affectionate  brother, 

S.  KUPANEA. 


*  This  figure  may  seem  obscure.  The  idea  is  this  :  The  oil  brought 
in  1820,  was  the  grace  or  love  of  God  in  the  hearts  of  the  missionaries. 
The  wicks  which  came  afterwards,  were  books,  preaching,  schools,  etc., 
which  helped  the  oil  to  shed  light  through  all  the  dwellings  of  Hawaii 


WEROWEKO   TO   QUEEN   VICTORIA.  243 

Other  parts  of  the  Island  World  of  the  Pacific  have 
furnished  the  materials  out  of  which  it  were  easy  to 
compile  another  chapter  of  Polynesian  Literature ;  but 
the  following  must  suffice  as  a  specimen  of  their  direct 
and  clear  way  of  expressing  themselves  in  letters,  in 
groups  of  islands  further  south  than  the  Sandwich. 

It  will  be  seen  that  their  rhetoric  comes  to  the  point 
very  soon,  turns  corners  very  sharply,  and  stops  short 
when  they  have  done.  The  communication  is  from  a 
New  Zealand  Chief,  and  occasioned  by  the  death  of  a 
governor  who  had  been  sent  out  there  by  the  British 
Crown. 

NEW  ZEALANDER'S  LETTER  TO  VICTORIA. 

Good  Lady  Victoria,  how  farest  thou  ?  Great  is  my  love  to  you, 
who  are  residing  in  your  country.  My  subject  is,  A  governor  for 
us  and  the  foreigners  of  this  island.  Let  him  be  a  good  man. 
Look  out  for  a  good  man,  a  man  of  judgment.  Let  not  a  troubler 
come  here.  Let  not  a  boy  come  here,  or  one  puffed  up  with  pride. 
We,  the  New  Zeulanders,  shall  be  afraid.  Let  him  be  as  good  as 
this  governor  who  has  just  died.  Mother  Victoria,  let  your  instruc 
tions  to  the  foreigner  be  good.  Let  him  be  kind.  Let  him  not 
come  here  to  kill  us,  seeing  that  we  are  peaceable.  Formerly  we 
were  a  bad  people,  a  murdering  people ;  now  we  are  sitting  peace 
ably.  We  have  left  off  the  evil.  It  was  you  appointed  this  line  of 
conduct,  and  therefore  it  is  good  to  us.  Mother,  be  kind. 

From  me, 

WEROWERO. 


244:  LIFE    IN    THE    SANDWICH    ISLANDS. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

RIDE  AROUND    THE  ISLAND  OF  OAHU,  AND  NOTES  BY  THE  WAY. 

Portia.  —  Good  sentences,  and  well  pronounced. 

Nerissa. — They  would  be  better,  if  well  followed. 

Portia. — If  to  do  were  as  easy  as  to  know  what  were  good  to  do, 
chapels  had  been  churches,  and  poor  men's  cottages,  princes'  palaces. 
It  is  a  good  divine  that  follows  his  own  instructions  :  I  can  easier  teach 
twenty  what  were  good  to  be  done,  than  to  be  one  of  the  twenty  to 
follow  mine  own  teaching.  The  brain  may  devise  laws  for  the  blood, 
but  a  hot  temper  leaps  over  a  cold  decree. 

Merchant  of  Venice. 

We  return  to  Honolulu — Festivities  of  the  anniversary  of  Independence — Effect  upon 
public  morals — Natural  hankering  after  the  leeks  and  flesh-pots  of  heathenism — 
Converts  from  paganism  now  and  in  the  apos.tles'  day,  one  and  the  same — Compari 
son  instituted— We  mount  for  Kaneohe — Visit  by  the  way  to  the  country  villa  of  the 
king  and  chiefs— Work,  trial,  and  reward  of  the  pastor  at  Kaneohe— Mistaken  ti 
midity  in  admitting  to  the  church— Arguments  for  and  against— Corroborative  views 
of  Isaac  Taylor — Practical  working  of  an  open  church  polity  and  a  close  one  con 
trasted—Going  to  Egypt  for  the  corn  of  scandal — Much  ado  about  nothing — Leonato 
to  Antonio — We  halt  at  Waialua — Contrasts  of  natural  scenery — Kaneohe  the  sup 
posed  pit  of  an  old  volcano— Toilsome  descent— Picturesque  view  from  its  brink — 
Face  of  the  country  between  the  two  stations — Hospitality  of  a  teacher  at  Hauula — 
Deportment  of  natives  met  with  on  the  way— The  stale  charge  of  hypocrisy  con 
sidered — No  new  thing  for  religion  to  be  pressed  into  the  service  of  selfishness — 
Examples  of  double  dealing  in  the  Pacific,  by  foreigners— Prevalent  forms  of  self- 
deception  among  the  natives — Causes  assigned — Treatment  of  cases  when  discovered 
— Rigor  of  church  discipline — The  usages  of  the  church  an  education  for  Repub 
licanism — The  future  Republic  of  the  Pacific — A  prophecy  ventured. 

ONE  night's  sail  of  seventy  miles  in  the  little  govern 
ment  schooner  Victoria,  transfers  us  from  the  college  of 
Hawaiian  youth  at  Lahainaluna,  Maui,  to  the  island  of 
Oahu ;  where  we  find  the  king  and  his  court  keeping 
the  annual  feast  on  the  anniversary  of  the  giving  back 


ANNIVERSARY   FESTIVITIES   AT   HONOLULU.  245 

to  him  his  kingdom  by  the  good  Admiral  Thomas. 
Those  festivities  were  rather  inconsiderately  prolonged 
through  three  days,  and  cost  the  government  much 
money,  besides  leading  to  more  waste  and  dissipation 
on  the  part  of  individuals,  and  giving  too  free  rein  to 
the  sensual  mind  of  a  people  just  getting  up  from  the 
long  debauch  of  heathenism. 

The  pastors  at  Honolulu  found  a  strong  current  of 
worldliness  and  sensuality  setting  there  some  time  after 
the  feast ;  and  there  was  a  revival  of  a  species  of  hea 
thenism,  for  which  some  church  members  even  had  to 
be  disciplined.  The  common  people,  after  the  example 
of  their  rulers,  feasted  themselves  in  squads. 

They  would  get  together,  pray,  then  eat  and  drink, 
sing  meles,  (old  native  songs,)  and  indulge  in  other  ex 
cesses;  and  there  was  a  strong  hankering  after  old 
heathenish  pleasures,  which  they  would  like  to  baptize 
with  a  Christian  name ;  like  some  of  the  love-feasts  of 
the  Corinthian  and  other  converts,  where  one  was  hun 
gry  and  another  drunken  y  at  which  they  counted  it 
pleasure  to  riot  in  the  day-time  ;  feeding  themselves 
without  fear^  sporting  themselves  with  their  own  de 
ceiving #,  having  eyes  full  of  adultery,  and  that  cannot 
cease  from  sin. 

Without  the  Gospel,  men  everywhere,  be  they  savage 
or  civilized,  are  constantly  tending  downward.  And 
when  this  tendency  seems  arrested,  and  some  steps  have 
been  taken  upward,  there  is  still  a  gravitation  in  the 
sensual  mind  towards  evil,  which  has  to  be  watched 
against  and  counteracted,  nf  we  would  keep  an  indi- 


246  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

vidual  or  a  people  progressing.  Human  nature,  it  is 
remarked  by  Taylor,  in  his  "Ancient  Christianity," 
however  much  it  may  have  been  raised  above  its  ordi 
nary  level  in  particular  instances,  has  always  quickly 
subsided,  and  been  substantially  the  same  in  every  age 
and  country. 

Ancient  and  modern  heathenism  are  of  much  the 
same  type.  The  one  in  the  Apostles'  day  had  little  to 
boast  over  the  other  in  this.  It  took  longer  to  purge 
out  the  old  leaven  from  some  of  the  primitive  churches ; 
and  many  of  the  converts  then  (it  is  manifest  from 
Paul's  own  epistles)  were  not  at  all  more  stable — we 
doubt  if  as  much  so — or  spiritually-minded,  than  some 
of  the  converts  in  these  days  at  the  Sandwich  Islands. 

A  favorite  ride  and  walk  of  twelve  miles  north  from 
Honolulu,  brings  the  traveller  on  Oahu  to  Kaneohe, 
one  of  the  three  out-stations  on  this  island,  of  which 
the  population,  by  the  late  census,  is  twenty-one  thou 
sand  three  hundred  and  sixty-three.  You  turn  out  of 
town  on  an  excellent  road  near  the  large  adobe  and 
grass  meeting-house  of  the  Eev.  Lowell  Smith,  belong 
ing  to  the  second  church  of  Honolulu.  The  scenery  of 
the  Nuuanu  Valley,  with  all  its  cultivated  #$fo-beds, 
cascades,  cottages,  and  romantic  mountain  sides,  is 
highly  beautiful  and  unique. 

Stewart's  Journal  of  a  Residence  at  the  Sandwich 
Islands  has  made  it  familiar  to  many  readers.  And 
there  is  no  one  who  has  ridden  through  it  up  to  the 
"  Pali,"  but  can  testify  that  his  glowing  description  has 
no  more  than  done  it  justice. 


THE   KING'S    VILLA    EST   THE   VALLEY.  247 

About  five  miles  up  the  valley,  we  stopped  at  a  large 
unfinished  house  belonging  to  the  king,  in  a  grove  of 
ancient  koa-trees,  where  the  chief  boys  and  girls  were 
rusticating  a  while  with  the  family  of  their  missionary 
teachers.  They  make  an  exceedingly  well-behaved  and 
happy  company.  All  of  them,  to  the  number  of  six 
teen,  talk  English  with  considerable  fluency ;  and  their 
entire  aspect  and  bearing  reflect  much  credit  upon  the 
fidelity  and  tact  of  their  amiable  guardians.  The  king 
is  fond  of  riding  up  there,  and  takes  great  pleasure  in 
the  school,  often  expressing  his  sense  of  its  utility,  and 
wishing  there  had .  been  such  a  school  for  him  when 
a  lad. 

Rev.  Mr.  Parker,  of  Kaneohe,  a  patient  missionary 
there  for  sixteen  years,  up  to  1850,  was  greatly  tried 
when  I  knew  him,  with  the  stupidity,  the  sensual  ten 
dency,  and  the  disposition  to  deceive  among  his  people ; 
and  he  was  consequently  very  slow  in  admitting  to  the 
church.  He  was  of  opinion  then  that  the  stone  Meet 
ing-house  which  he  had  built  by  dint  of  hard  labor, 
some  help  from  other  native  churches,  and  the  savings 
of  his  own  family,  would  in  two  Sabbaths  be  crowded 
to  more  than  its  capacity,  if  he  should  have  a  meeting 
of  those  out  of  the  church,  propound  a  few  of  them  for 
admission,  and  call  another  meeting  of  inquirers. 

They  would  think  the  Jcwwu,  is  now  opening  ihepu&a 
(door)  of  the  church,  if  not  of  heaven,  and  would  run 
from  every  quarter  to  get  in.  There  was  a  revival 
movement  in  his  district  in  the  year  1844,  but  out  of  a 
company  of  three  hundred  inquirers  he  admitted  but 


2-48  LIFE   1ST    THE    SANDWICH  -ISLANDS. 

five,  because  he  feared  their  hypocrisy,  and  thought  he 
could  have  more  hold  of  them  out  of  the  church,  but  as 
instructed  candidates  for  it,  than  when  in. 

Since  that  period  there  has  been  another  religious 
awakening  in  his  district,  from  which  more  fruit  was 
cautiously  gathered  into  the  church ;  and  the  Minutes 
of  1848  show  that  there  have  been  received  in  all  into 
the  Kaneohe  church,  by  profession  and  certificate,  from 
the  time  of  its  formation,  three  hundred  members. 

With  all  deference ^to  the  principles  and  conscientious 
fears  of  the  pastor  there,  and  of  a  few  others  who  think 
like  him,  I  cannot  help  expressing  the  opinion  that  a 
very  close  and  rigid  policy,  as  the  rule  of  admission  to 
Hawaiian  churches,  is  a  mistaken  one.  To  say  nothing 
of  the  propriety  of  using  all  suitable  means  to  keep  up 
a  congregation,  in  order  that  a  missionary  may  not 
preach  to  bare  walls,  we  argue  that  if  a  man  preach 
the  true  Gospel  of  Christ,  and  pray  sincerely  for  a 
blessing,  and  there  appear  at  times  good  evidence  of 
the  presence  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  it  is  but  .reasonable  to 
believe,  in  the  absence  of  strong  evidence  to  the  con 
trary,  that  this  same  Divine  Agent  completes  the  work 
of  regeneration  in  many  souls  that  seem  earnestly  feel 
ing,  it  may  be,  groping  through  thick  darkness  after 
God. 

And  when,  as  at  all  missionary  stations,  through  ig 
norance  and  imperfections,  both  in  him  who  judges, 
and  in  those  whose  conversion  is  to  be  judged  of,  the 
evidence  of  certainty  cannot  be  had,  we  do  not  think 
that  the  fear  of  receiving  some  hypocrites  should  keep 


OPEN    AND    CLOSE   CIIUKCH    POLITY    CONTRASTED.       249 

a  minister  from  admitting  to  the  church  a  goodly  num 
ber  of  those  who  seem  to  have  been  wrought  upon  by 
the  Holy  Spirit,  who  profess  repentance  and  faith,  who 
pray  and  abandon  outward  sins,  and  who  desire  to  be 
taken  into  the  fellowship  of  saints. 

Isaac  Taylor  very  properly  remarks  in  the  History  of 
Fanaticism,  that  "  the  duty  of  those,  whether  they  be 
the  few  or  the  many,  to  whose  hands  are  intrusted  ec 
clesiastical  powers,  is  not  that  of  a  Rhadamanthus.  Re 
sponsibility  does  not  stretch  beyond  natural  powers, 
and  it  is  quite  certain  that  men  have  no  power  to  search 
each  other's  bosoms  ;  nor  should  they  think  themselves 
charged  with  any  such  endeavor.  The  pretender  and 
the  hypocrite  belong  always  to  Divine  jurisdiction ;  the 
Church  will  be  asked  to  give  no  account  of  them,  so 
long  as  they  successfully  conceal  the  fatal  fact  of  their 
insincerity.  Let  but  a  community  be  more  or  less  ex 
tended  in  its  sphere,  be  pure  in  manners — PUKE,  not 
sanctimonious ;  let  the  Scriptures  be  universally  and 
devoutly  read  by  its  private  members,  and  honestly  ex 
pounded  by  its  teachers ;  and  in  this  case  it  will  be 
very  little  annoyed  by  the  intrusion  of  heretical  or  li 
centious  candidates." 

If  they  are  not  so  embraced  and  taken  care  of  in  the 
Church,  they  are  liable,  weak  and  unsteady  as  the  un 
disciplined  mind  is,  to  wander  and  stumble  as  sheep 
without  a  shepherd,  to  fall  at  length  into  darkness  and 
sin,  to  lose  patience  and  hope,  and  cease  praying  to 
gether,  and  to  fall,  perhaps,  into  the  clutches  of  the 
Man  of  Sin. 

11* 


250  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

Rather  than  that  this  should  ensue  with  any  of  God's 
elect,  or  that  any  who  are  truly  seeking  him  should  be 
balked  land  lose  their  souls,  it  were  better  that  many 
wolves  in  sheep's  clothing  get  within  the  consecrated 
ground  of  the  Church.  The  conversion  of  spurious 
professors  here  is  by  no  means  so  doubtful  or  difficult 
a  thing  as  when  they  get  into  the  churches  in  Ameri-* 
ca ;  and  at  the  worst,  they  can  be  turned  out  when  dis 
covered. 

The  state  of  things  at  Kaneohe,  and  at  the  next  sta 
tion  of  Waialua,  is  confirmative  of  these  views.  Many 
have  become  slack  and  indifferent,  and  have  left  off 
going  to  meeting,  saying  the  way  to  the  church  is  long, 
and  have  given  up  heart,  and  hope,  and  effort  alto 
gether. 

The  Catholics  have  a  priest  not  far  from  there,  and 
he  has  gained  some,  together  with  the  control  of  one 
hundred  of  their  children,  not  because  they  really  think 
the  Popish  way  is  the  right  way,  but  because,  by  their 
own  confession,  they  are  tired  of  waiting  upon  their 
kumu,  (teacher,)  and  have  an  itching  desire  to  be 
sprinkled  and  housed  in  some  church,  with  a  lurking 
belief — by  no  means  unknown  to  wiser  minds  in  Chris 
tian  lands — that  somehow  they  are  more  likely  to  be 
saved  in  the  Church,  than  unbaptized  out  of  it. 

It  is  natural  there  should  be  a  difference  of  opinion 
as  to  how  such  cases  are  to  be  prevented,  or  treated 
when  found,  among  a  people  with  whom  a  profession  of 
religion  is  so  popular.  No  one  can  deny  that  the  whole 
subject  of  admitting  to  the  Church  is  beset  with  difficul- 


TWO    ASPECTS    OF   NATIVE    CHURCHES.  251 

ties.    Perhaps  the  more  conscientious  and  orthodox  the 
pastor,  the  greater  will  be  his  quandary. 

It  is-  but  fair  that  those  who  are  interested  in  and 
support  missionaries,  should  be  made  acquainted  as  far 
as  possible  with  their  trials,  and  what  they  have  to  con 
tend  with,  the  deceit  and  hypocrisy  of  native  character, 
the  degradation  and  vileness  of  the  native  mind.  If 
the  dark  side  of  native  character,  and  the  dark  aspect 
of  native  churches,  have  been  heretofore*  too  much  with 
held  from  the  public,  as  some  think,  there  is  more 
reason  that  both  sides  should  be  given  now,  in  order 
that  erroneous  views  may  be  corrected,  and  the  truth 
arrived  at  by  comparison,  so  far  as  it  can  be  ascertained 
by  those  who  are  not  on  the  spot  to  see  things  as  they 
are,  and  as  no  reports  can  possibly  exhibit  them. 

*  Travellers  who  visit  missionary  establishments  sometimes  con 
tribute  to  existing  errors.  If  they  write  in  favor  of  them,  they  wish  to 
do  it  to  some  purpose ;  they  wish,  of  course,  to  be  popular,  in  an  age 
which  asks  for  new  and  exciting  matter  from  the  press.  Hence  we 
have  seen  books  professing  to  give  the  state  of  things  at  the  Society, 
Sandwich,  and  even  Marquesas  Islands,  written  in  a  style  of  extrava 
gance,  adapted  rather  to  gratify  than  to  inform  the  reader.  There  are 
other  travellers  who  fall  into  the  other  extreme.  It  is  a  point  with 
them  to  show  that  the  missionary  enterprise  does  no  good ;  that  it  im 
poverishes  and  depopulates  the  Islands,  and  that  the  natives  who  sur 
vive  its  pestilential  influence  are  made  more  idle,  filthy,  and  vicious. 
The  reader  needs  not  to  be  informed  that  it  is  an  old  usage  among  men 
to  comfort  one's  own  conscience,  by  an  effort  to  lay  its  guilt  on  the  back 
of  another.  Neither  does  the  public,  we  presume,  need  to  be  informed 
that  if  any  one  goes  down  into  Egypt  after  the  corn  of  scandal — the 
sins  of  missionaries — he  will  find  the  stewards  of  the  granaries  on  board 
his  craft  before  he  can  anchor,  and  the  sack  filled,  and  the  money  also 
returned  in  the  sack's  mouth — at  so  cheap  a  rate  do  they  supply  the 
wants  of  their  brethren. — Hawaiian  Spectator,  Vol.  i.  p.  99. 


252  LIFE    IN    THE    SANDWICH    ISLANDS. 


Therefore  we  have  been  always  ready,  in  these  pages, 
to  state  facts  as  they  have  fallen  in  our  way,  and  to 
make  it  known  when  we  differ  as  to  how  difficulties 
should  be  surmounted,  and  trials  met ;  at  the  same  time 
not  forgetting  the  proverb  which  says  of  grief  ironically, 
that  every  one  can  master  it  but  he  that  hath  it ;  nor 
letting  slip  one  of  those  sayings  of  Shakspeare's  heroine 
which  I  have  put  at  the  head  of  this  chapter,  I  CAN 

EASIER  TEACH  TWENTY  WHAT  WEKE  GOOD  TO  BE  DONE, 
THAN  TO  BE  ONE  OF  THE  TWENTY  TO  FOLLOW  MINE  OWN 
TEACHING. 

We  can  easily  point  out  faults  and  errors  in  others, 
and  commend  them  to  patience  and  fidelity  in  suffering 
and  duty ;  but  it  is  quite  another  thing  always  to  act  in 
just  the  right  way  ourselves,  or  to  be  and  to  do  what 
we  recommend  wisely  to  others.  How  finely  does 
Leonato  say  to  Antonio  in  the  drama  of  Much.  Ado 
About  Nothing — 

Brother,  men 

Can  counsel,  and  speak  comfort  to  that  grief, 
Which  they  themselves  not  feel ;  but,  tasting  it, 
Their  counsel  turns  to  passion,  which  before 
Would  give  preceptial  medicine  to  rage, 
Fetter  strong  madness  in  a  silken  thread, 
Charm  ache  with  air,  and  agony  with  words; 
No,  no ;  'tis  all  men's  office  to  speak  patience 
To  those  that  wring  under  the  load  of  sorrow ; 
But  no  man's  virtue,  nor  sufficiency, 
To  be  so  moral,  when  he  shall  endure 
The  like  himself :  therefore  give  me  no  counsel. 
My  griefs  cry  louder  than  advertisement. 
I  pray  thee,  peace  :  I  will  be  flesh  and  blood  ; 
For  there  was  never  yet  philosopher, 
That  could  endure  the  tooth-ache  patiently ; 


SUPPOSED   PIT   OF   AN   OLD   VOLCANO.  253 

However  they  have  writ  the  style  of  gods, 
And  made  a  pish  at  chance  and  sufferance. 

There  is  seldom  seen,  even  in  Hawaii-nei,  where  the 
extremes  of  fruitfulness  and  aridity  often  meet,  a  greater 
difference  in  the  external  aspect  of  two  places,  than 
appears  at  the  present  time  between  Kaneohe  and  Wai- 
alua,  at  which  latter  missionary  station  we  have  now 
arrived  in  the  course  of  our  travels  around  Oahu. 

At  Kaneohe,  directly  around  the  mission  premises, 
and  all  the  way  up  to  the  lofty  precipice  wilich  breaks 
it  off  from  the  Valley  of  Nuuanu,  on  the  Honolulu  side, 
there  are  grassy  knells,  running  brooks,  and  green 
meadows  of  great  fertility,  alternating  within  the  com 
pass  of  ten  or  fifteen  miles.  There  is  good  evidence 
that  the  entire  district  was  once  a  volcanic  crater.  It 
is  hemmed  in  on  all  sides,  except  seaward,  by  lofty 
basaltic  and  lava  precipices,  just  like  the  sides  of  Hale-a- 
ka-la.  Nothing  can  be  more  picturesque  and  charming 
than  the  first  view  you  get  of  it  from  the  brow  of  the 
Pali. 

There  you  stand,  if  the  fierce,  rush  of  the  trades  will 
let  you,  at  least  two  thousand  feet  above  the.  diversified 
grassy  basin  below,  and  look  away  over  the  rich  land 
scape  of  calm  sunshine  and  shade,  blended  by  distance 
into  a  mellow  unity,  along  the  aspiring  cliffs,  and  off 
"  o'er  the  waters  of  the  dark  blue  sea,"  till  they  rise  up 
in  the  distant  horizon  to  a  level  with  the  plane  of  your 
eye. 

The  descent  is  so  long  and  difficult  by  a  zigzag  in  the 
almost  upright  wall  of  the  Pali,  like  the  celebrated  Es- 


LIFE    IN    THE    SANDWICH    ISLANDS. 


troza  Pass  in  the  island  of  Madeira,  tli  at  one  has  to 
take  the  best  heed  to  his  steps  who  will  go  down  there. 
And  if  a  man's  rectus  and  vasti  muscles,  the  semitendi- 
nosus  and  biceps  flexor  crnris,  do  not  ache  after  it,  it 
i  must  be  because  his  legs  are  made  without  them. 

"When  once  fairly  down,  the  way  to  the  station,  four 
or  five  miles,  is  clear  over  the  greensward  ;  and  you 
look  back  with  wonderment  at  the  vast  walls  and  ram 
parts,  of  which  no  power  less  than  volcanic  could  have 
been  the  architect,  or  could  ever  have  rent  from  them, 
and  sunk  to  nearly  a  level  with  the  sea,  the  great  sub 
jacent  plain  over  which  you  are  passing. 

The  way  thence  to  Waialua  is  forty  miles  to  the 
westward,  along  the  sea,  often  on  the  beach.  At  the 
point  where  you  emerge  from  what  may  be  called  the 
great  crater  of  Kaneohe,  the  precipice  is  cut  off  plumb 
down  to  a  level  with  the  sea,  making  a  wrall  on  your 
left  of  eight  or  ten  hundred  feet  perpendicular  height. 
There  are  several  villages  to  be  passed  through  where 
the  Catholics  are  numerous. 

Fish-ponds  are  fenced-in  all  along,  and  there  are 
many  little  bays  and  bights  of  the  ocean  wrhich,  to 
gether  with  the  grassy  and  gentle  line  of  the  coast,  form 
an  unusual  variety  in  Hawaiian  natural  scenery,  and  a 
fine  contrast  to  the  deep  cuts  and  bold  mountains  fur 
ther  inland.  The  country  on  all  that  side  of  the  island 
is  well  watered,  and  holds  out  many  inducements,  for 
settlement  to  Hawaiians  ;  yet  the  population  is  but  five 
thousand,  and  that  decreasing. 

I  stopped  to  rest  and  bathe  at  a  place  called  Hauula, 


DEPORTMENT    OF   NATIVES    MET   ON    THE   WAY.         255 

where  a  line  for  the  teacher  from  Mr.  Parker,  procured 
me  entertainment  as  readily  as  if  I  had  been  an  envoy 
of  the  king.  He  at  once  unsaddled  my  horse,  and  put 
him  to  grass,  broke  me  a  stalk  of  sugar-cane^  baked  a 
fowl  and  potatoes,  and  entertained  me  an  hour  writh  a 
simple,  easy  hospitality,  while  I  used  up  all  the  Ha 
waiian  I  ever  learned,  and  maltreated  a  good  deal  more, 
in  answering  and  asking  questions. 

On  the  way  from  his  house,  I  fell  in  with  companies 
of  native  men  and  women,  some  of  whom  mistaking 
the  traveller  for  a  sailor,  by  a  pea-jacket  spread  upon 
my  saddle,  behaved  themselves  in  a  way  which  proved 
two  things — both  what  sort  of  indecencies  are  agreeable 
to  the  foreigners  with  whom  they  generally  have  to  do, 
and  that  they  deport  themselves  very  differently  before 
a  man  whom  they  believe  to  be  not  a  missionary,  nor 
a  missionary's  friend,  and  one  who  is. 

I  might  probably  have  learned  more  had  I  stopped, 
and  had  I  thought  it  quite  right  to  play  the  part  of  the 
character  they  took  me  for.  This  I  could  not  do  for 
three  reasons  :  First,  the  knowledge  that  a  man's  own 
feelings  and  state  of  mind  are  very  likely  to  become, 
even  against  his  will,  those  of  the  man  whose  actions 
and  words  he  imitates.  Second,  real  truth  and  virtue 
are  unwilling  to  dissemble,  and  feel  disgraced,  like  a 
chaste  virgin,  to  be  taken  for  what  they  are  not.  Third, 
because  an  honest  man  hates  deception  in  any  form, 
and  feels  conscience-struck  and  sorry  ever  to  allow  it, 
or  not  frankly  to  show  what  he  is. 

Knowledge  of  Hawaiians,  or  of  any  other  persons, 


256  LIFE    IN   THE   SANDWICH    ISLANDS. 

gained  in  such  a  way,  would  be  too  dear  bought,  and 
one  had  better  remain  in  ignorance  than  get  it  at  such 
a  sacrifice.  The  lawfulness  of  deceit  for  a  good  pur 
pose  was  held  by  some  of  the  Fathers,  and  along  with 
cunning  priests  to  tend  the  loom,  it  may  be  said  to 
have  woven  the  pall  of  night  that  covered  the  Dark 
Ages.  It  is  held  by  Eomanists  still.  But  an  honest 
man  and  a  Protestant  possesses  in  his'  bosom  a  light  of 
conscience,  that  puts  to  the  blush  such  a  maxim  of  time 
serving  expediency. 

He  knows,  (says  Coleridge  with  his  usual  earnest 
ness,)  that  by  sacrificing  the  law  of  his  reason  to  the 
maxim  of  pretended  prudence,  he  purchases  the  sword 
with  the  loss  of  the  arm  that  is  to  wield  it.  The  duties 
which  we  owe  to  our  own  moral  being,  are  the  ground 
and  condition  of  all  other  duties  ;  and  to  set  our  nature 
at  strife  with  itself  for  a  good  purpose,  implies  the  same 
sort  of  prudence  as  a  priest  of  Diana  would  have  mani 
fested,  who  should  have  proposed  to  dig  up  the  cele 
brated  charcoal  foundations  of  the  mighty  Temple  of 
Ephesus,  in  order  to  furnish  fuel  for  the  burnt-offerings 
upon  its  altars. 

You  hear  nothing  oftener  in  the  mouths  of  irreligious 
foreigners,  than  that  missionaries  don't  know  the  na 
tives,  that  they  don't  act  out  before  them,  and  that  they 
are  great  hypocrites.  Now  we  think  the  missionaries 
might  know  it  by  this  time,  through  being  told  of  it  so 
often,  if  not  by  their  own  observation.  And  the  truth 
is,  they  do  know  it  well,  and  mourn  over  it,  and  en 
deavor  to  keep  on  their  guard  against  it. 


FOREIGNERS   AND   NATIVES    COMPARED.  257 

But  they  are  not  so  ignorant  of  history  or  other  men, 
as  to  believe  hypocrisy,  and  falsehood,  and  double-play 
peculiar  to  Hawaii  ans:  Hypocrisy  is  not  monopolized 
by  Hawaiians,  nor  will  it  die  out  of  the  world  with 
them.  They  cannot  be  called  a  community  of  hypo 
crites  with  any  more  propriety  than  a  foreigner  should 
call  the  people  of  the  United  States  so,  because  in  the 
first  steamboat  or  railroad-car  he  might  take  passage  in, 
he  should  see  posted  up  in  large  letters,  LOOK  OUT  FOR 

ROGUES  AND  PICKPOCKETS. 

Other  barbarians,  both  the  instructed  and  uninstruct- 
ed,  evince  as  much  deceit  as  these  Hawaiians,  and  most 
of  them  more  ;  and  I  have  little  doubt  that  the  history 
of  the  intercourse  of  white  men,  of  Anglo-Saxons,  and 
Anglo-Americans  with  these  islanders  and  those  of  the 
Pacific  generally,*  would'  re  veal  more  falsehood,  treach 
ery,  and  double-dealing  on  their  part,  and  lead  an  un 
prejudiced  mind  to  the  conclusion  that  there  was  at 


*  The  author  of  the  bold  Polynesian  romance  entitled  "  Typee,"  very 
properly  remarks  that  the  enormities  perpetrated  in  the  South  Seas 
upon  some  of  the  inoffensive  islanders  well-nigh  pass  belief.  These 
things  are  seldom  proclaimed  at  home  ;  they  happen  at  the  very  ends 
of  the  earth ;  they  are  done  in  a  corner,  and  there  are  none  to  reveal 
them.  But  there  is,  nevertheless,  many  a  petty  trader  that  has  navi 
gated  the  Pacific,  whose  course  from  island  to  island  might  be  traced  by 
a  series  of  cold-blooded  robberies,  kidnappings,  and  murders,  the  iniquity 
of  which  might  be  considered  almost  sufficient  to 'sink  her  guilty  tim 
bers  to  the  bottom  of  the  sea.  It  may  be  asserted  without  fear  of 
contradiction,  that  in  all  the  cases  of  outrages  committed  by  Polynesians, 
Europeans  have  been  at  some  time  or  other  the  aggressors,  and  that  the 
cruel  and  blood-thirsty  disposition  of  some  of  the  islanders  is  mainly  to 
be  ascribed  to  the  influence  of  such  examples.. 


258  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

least  as  large  an  infusion  of  these  amiable  quali 
ties  in  their  composition  as  in  that  of  the  red-skinned 
race. 

Hypocrisy  and  deception  do  not  belong  pre-eminently 
even  to  savages,  but  to  human  nature.  They  are  not 
the  monopoly  and  trade  of  barbarians  merely,  but  they 
are  diffused  as  widely  as  the  human  race.  Perhaps 
they  stand  out  more  glaringly  on  the  page  of  history, 
than  any  other  vices  to  which  men  are  subject. 

Especially  .has  religious  hypocrisy  been  exhibited 
wherever  religion  has  been  known,  the  former  being, 
as  it  is  often  remarked,  a  homage  paid  to  the  latter,  of 
which,  indeed,  it  only  proves  the  reality  and  excellence, 
just  as  counterfeit  dollars*  and  doubloons  in  circulation 
prove  that  there  are  real  ones  too,  for  no  one  would 
take  the  pains  to  counterfeit  that  which  was  not  valu 
able  and  did  not  exist. 

And  if  religion  has  in  all  times,  especially  in  highly 
civilized  countries,  been  made  the  stalking-horse  and 
shoeing-horn  to  selfishness,  whereby  unprincipled  men 
have  ridden  into  place  and  power,  why  should  it  be 
thought  strange  that  many  of  the  Hawaiians,  among 
whom  religion  has  become  popular,  and  a  passport  to 
reputation  and  confidence — why  is  it  strange  that  they 
should  be  found  running  after  it,  and  assuming  its  sem 
blance,  in  order  to  get  its  good  ? 

If  bad  men  in  other  lands  have  so  often  made  it  the 
cloak  of  sinister  designs,  why  is  it  wonderful  that  in1 
Hawaii-nei  natives  should  now  and  then  be  found  trying 
to  wrap  it  round  their  rottenness,  in  order  to  hide  the 


RIGOR   OF   CHURCH   DISCIPLINE.  259 

gaping  sores  of  their  moral  corruption,  as  well  from 
their  own  eyes  as  from  the  sight  of  others ! 

I  believe  this  latter  use  is  less  often  made  of  religion 
here  than  elsewhere.  When  Hawaiians  profess  repent 
ance  and  faith,  and  act  the  hypocrite,  it  is  either  as 
self-deceived,  or  that  they  may  get  the  favor  of  their 
minister,  and  entrance  into  the  Church  as  a  means  of 
grace  and  salvation — very  seldom  (if  we  are  not  mis 
taken)  as  self-known  deceivers,  wearing  the  character 
istic  mark  of  hypocrisy,  and  in  order  to  cover  up  and 
carry  on  some  ulterior  design. 

Often,  as  in  all  societies,  after  the  committal  they 
have  made  of  themselves  has  led  them  to  break  off  out 
ward  sins,  and  they  are  safely  housed  in  the  Church, 
and  the  novelty  and  excitement  of  their  new  estate  and 
relations  has  worn  off  and  become  stale,  then  iniquities 
prevail  against  them,  their  corruptions  return  too  strong 
to  be  resisted  by  unregenerate  human  nature,  they  yield 
and  are  disclosed  to  themselves  and  their  brethren  as 
having  been  "  hypocrites,"  if  that  term  be  preferred  to 
self-deceived  and  deceivers,  which  in  this  case  it  cer 
tainly  means. 

If  there  be  not  immediate  repentance  upon  the  dis 
closure  of  guilt,  such  persons  are  cut  off.  If  there  be, 
they  are  suspended  for  a  time,  till  it  is  clear  what  they 
are,  and  then,  if  giving  good  evidence,  they  are  re 
stored  ;  if  not,  excommunicated.  Who  will  say  that 
this  is  not  right?  or  who  can  point  out  a  better 
way  ? 

It  may  be  remarked  here,  that  the  usages  and  dis- 


260  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH    ISLANDS. 

cipline  of  the  Christian  Church  are  doing  for  Hawaii- 
ans  what  the  same  causes  did  for  the  founders  of  New 
England,  that  is,  preparing  them  for  self-government 
and  republicanism.  As  the  Republican  State  in  New 
England  found  its  germ  in  the  Republican  Congrega 
tional  Church  which  preceded  it ;  and  as  the  principle 
of  individual  equality  and  representation,  first  prac 
tically  exemplified  in  the  constitution  of  the  Church, 
was  thence  transferred  to  the  constitution  of  the  State, 
in  like  manner  is  the  present  generation  of  Hawaiians 
in  a  process  of  training,  under  its  religious  teachers,  for 
civil  liberty. 

The  result  will  doubtless  be  to  develop  the  capacity 
of  self-government,  and  in  due  time  to  rear  a  flourish 
ing  Republic  in  the  Heart  of  the  Pacific.  A  virtual 
colony  as  it  will  then  be  from  the  United  States,  found 
ed  by  American  Christianity  and  American  Commerce 
united,  and  linked,  as  it  will  speedily  become,  to  our 
Pacific  and  Atlantic  seaboards  by  steamer  and  tele 
graph,  it  may  suitably  be  adopted  into  the  sisterhood 
of  American  States. 

Hawaiian  Senators  and  Representatives  may  ere  long 
take  their  seats  in  the  Capitol,  at  Washington,  with 
members  from  Minnesota,  Utah,  Deseret,  New  Mexico, 
and  Santa  Fe.  The  Star  of  Hawaii  may  yet  blaze  in  the 
flag  of  the  American  Union;  and  the  sons  of  her  present 
missionaries,  together  with  native-born  Kanaka  Maole 
from  the  Island  Heart  of  the  Pacific,  may  yet  mingle  in 
debate  on  the  floor  of  the  American  Congress,  and  the 
voice  of  Senatorial  eloquence  from  the  luxurious  tropics 


BURKE    ON    THE  BROTHERHOOD    OF   NATIONS.          261 

may  yet  awaken  echoes  from  the  hardy  North.     May 
propitious  Heaven  speed  the  augury ! 

And  may  that  happy  consummation  of  universal 
brotherhood  among  all  the  nations  be  soon  realized,  of 
which  Edmund  Burke  said  in  his  place  in  the  British 
parliament :  I  believe,  my  lords,  that  the  sun,  in  his 
beneficent  progress  round  the  world,,  does  not  behold  a 
more  glorious  sight  than  that  of  men,  separated  from  a 
remote  people  by  the  material  bounds  and  barriers  of 
nature,  united  by  the  bond  of  a  social  and  moral  com 
munity. 


262  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH    ISLANDS. 


CHAPTER    XII. 

SIDE    VIEWS    OF    HAWAIIAN    CHARACTER    AND    DESTINY. 

Polonius. — If  circumstances  lead  me,  I  will  find 

Where  truth  is  hid,  though  it  were  hid  indeed 

Within  the  centre. — 

Tis  too  much  proved,  that  with  devotion's  visage, 

And  pious  action,  we  do  sugar  o'er 

The  devil  himself. — Hamlet. 

Relative  position  and  fortunes  of  the  posterity  of  Shem  and  Japheth— Practical  bearing 
upon  tlie  labors  of  missionaries — The  ground  principle  of  success — Variety  of  talents 
called  into  exercise — How  to  be  beloved  and  useful — Study  of  books,  versus  the 
study  of  human  nature — Something  had  and  something  wanting  at  Waialua — A 
maxim  gathered  from  observation — Management  of  cases  of  casuistry — A  common 
weakness  commented  upon — Difference  of  behavior  between  sentimental  and  genu 
ine  sorrow — The  acting  of  a  fine  mind  when  sin  or  grief-stricken,  and  that  of  a  coarse 
mind — The  Hawaiian  infirmity  illustrated  by  a  fact — The  pea-hen  everywhere — Na 
tive  volubility  and  destitution  of  shame— Charities  of  the  Waialua  church— A  man 
ual  labor  school — How  established  and  why  abandoned — We  journey  to  Ewa — A  suc 
cessful  experiment  at  self-support — Remarkable  proof  of  disinterestedness — Progress 
reported — Honor  to  whom  honor  is  due— Fact  and  cause  of  the  nation's  decay — Alarm 
ing  statistics — Report  of  a  committee  on  moral  reform — Responsibility  of  foreigners 
who  have  fed  the  national  vice — Moral  strength  of  the  government  now  and  former 
ly — Suppression  of  vice  the  duty  of  magistrates — Plea  of  virtue  and  humanity — 
Sophisms  of  the  selfish  and  impure— Righteous  reasonings  of  the  duke  in  the  moral 
play  of  Measure  for  Measure. 

THE  future  of  nations  and  of  individuals  is  absolutely 
known  to  Omniscience  only.  The  issues  and  destinies 
of  ages  to  come,  God  alone  can  explore,  on  whom  they 
depend.  A  guess  beyond  the  present,  or  a  rational 
judgment  of  the  future  by  the  past,  is  all  that  the  wisest 
of  uninspired  men  can  venture.  There  are  thinking 
men  of  the  race  now  dominant  in  the  world,  who  judge 


ORIENTAL   AND   OCCIDENTAL   RACES    COMPARED.       263 

that  all  the  nations  of  the  earth  descended  from  Shem, 
(including  the  Indians  of  North  and  South  America, 
the  races  of  Oceanica,  and  the  kingdoms  of  the  East,) 
have  already  reached  that  point  of  degradation  or  of 
fixedness  observed  by  ethnologists,  from  which  neither 
individuals  nor  nations  are  disposed  of  themselves  to 
rise,  and  from  which  the  Most  High  is  seldom  dis 
posed  to  raise  them.  They  are  to  be  irrecoverably 
absorbed, — according  to  the  prophecy,  God  shall  enlarge 
Japheth,  and  he  shall  dwell  in  the  tents  of  Shem — in 
the  posterity  of  that  son  of  Noah  to  whom  Europe  was 
given. 

Be  it  that  many  of  them  as  individuals  may  be  con- 
.  verted  and  saved,  they  cannot  survive  much  longer  as 
nations.  The  decree  has  gone  out  against  them — proph 
ecy  must  be  fulfilled.  Embracing  Christianity  will  not 
save  them  from  decay,  though  it  may  save  their  souls. 
They  have  sunk  too  low,  and  have  become  diseased  too 
mortally,  to  be  raised  and  live.  Repentance  comes  too 
late  for  their  national  salvation,  as  to  a  man  who  has 
ruined  his  constitution  by  excess,  past  the  sanative 
reach  of  reform.  The  process  of  extermination  before 
the  favored  posterity  of  Japheth,  is  too  far  under  way, 
and  too  surely  predetermined,  to  be  arrested  now. 

Now,  how  much  soever  of  theoretic  truth  and  Scrip 
ture  evidence  such  opinions  may  have  for  their  basis, 
yet,  when  much  dwelt  upon,  and  constantly  compared 
in  the  mind  with  all  facts  that  look  that  way,  it  is 
hardly  possible  that  they  should  not  blunt  the  edge  of 
appetite  for  missionary  work,  and  disable  the  sword- 


LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 


arm  for  nervous  thrusts  at  the  powers  of  Pagan  dark 
ness. 

The  mind  will  be  naturally  reasoning  —  My  labor  here 
is  comparatively  hopeless  and  of  little  account;  how 
much  better  to  be  expending  .my  energies  for  immor 
tality  upon  the  race  of  Anglo-Saxons  that  is  to  live  and 
inherit  the  earth,  than  upon  a  degraded  people  that  are 
soon  to  die  out  and  become  extinct,  and  their  memorial 
to  perish^with  them  ! 

Such  reasonings,  like  the  notions  Satan  started  in 
Paradise,  when  he  sat 

Squat  like  a  toad,  close  at  the  ear  of  Eve, 
Assaying  by  his  devilish  art  to  reach 
The  organs  of  her  fancy,  and  with  them  forge 
Illusions,  as  he  list— 

disturb  and  divert  the  mind  from  its  proper  work  ; 

Thence  raise  distempered,  discontented  thought, 
Vain  hopes,  vain  aims,  inordinate  desires, 
Blown  up  with  high  conceits,  engendering  pride. 

It  is  no  more  possible  for  a  missionary,  than  for  a 
clergyman  in  service  elsewhere,  to  pay  the  debt  to  his 
profession  which  Lord  Bacon  says  every  professional 
man  owes,  nisi  nodes  atque  dies  in  hoc  studio  consumat. 
All  his  days  and  nights  must  be  given  to  studies  and 
employments  that  have  a  steady  bearing  upon  his  great 
work,  and  tend  either  to  enlarge  his  capacity,  or  aug 
ment  and  burnish  his  intellectual  armor,  or  to  throw 
the  light  of  his  individual  reason  and  experience  upon 
the  duties  of  his  profession,  for  the  benefit  of  ethers. 

It  is  not,  indeed,  for  one  man  .to  say  to  another  how 


THE   MISCELLANEOUS   WOKK   OF  MISSIONARIES.         265 

much  or  how  little  he  may  diverge  from  his  main  pur 
suit,  or  whether  literary  diversions  be  compatible  or  not 
with  the  duties  of  a  missionary.  "We  can  only  lay 
down  the  general  principle,  that  both  ministerial  and 
missionary  work  demands  the  entire  energies  of  those 
who  are  dedicated  thereto.  In  order  to  be  at  all  emi 
nent  or  successful,  experience  has  proved  that  the  man 
must  be  totus  in  illis.  Give  thyself  wholly  to  tkem*- 
Mcike  full  proof  of  thy  minisfry — Do  all  the  work  of 
an  evangelist — is  the  charge  of  the  Apostle.  To  divide 
the  strength  is  to  weaken  it,  and  One's  profession  in 
evitably  suffers. 

Examination  of  the  yearly  minutes  of  the  Hawaiian 
Mission,  and  a  bird's-eye  view  of  the  business  they  lay 
out  for  themselves,  every  one  or  two  years  at  general 
meeting,  as  well  as  the  personal  inspection  of  them  at 
their  several  stations,  would  satisfy  any  one  that  there 
is  no  chance  in  Hawaii-nei  for  laziness.  There  is  work 
enough,  both  professional  and  miscellaneous,  to  keep 
them  all  busy ;  and  there  is  full  exercise,  in  one  way  or 
another,  for  all  gifts  and  talents,  inventive,  administra 
tive,  executive ;  teaching,  preaching,  organizing,  build 
ing,  improving  in  every  way. 

Some  of  the  missionaries  excel  in  preaching,  and 
some  in  teaching ;  others,  again,  in  translating  and  book- 
making;  and  others  in  devising  and  constructing  new 
ways  and  means  of  operation  upon  the  native  mind, 
whereby  it  shall  develop  and  educate  itself. 

Some  pastors,  by  reason  of  their  impulsive,  sanguine 
temperaments,  strong  faith,  and  fervent  zeal,  are  eager 

12 


266  LIFE   IN  THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

to  introduce  candidates  early  into  the  Christian  ordi 
nances  of  baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper.  Others, 
again,  may  have  shown  an  excess  of  carefulness  in  ad 
mitting  to  the  Church,  an  extreme  of  skepticism  on  the 
subject  of  native  piety,  and  the  important  lack  in  their 
intercourse  with  Hawaiians,  of  the  affable  temper  of 

Milton's 

*  • 

Sociable  spirit  Raphael,  that  deigned 

To  travel  with  Tobias,  and  secured 

His  marriage  with  the  seven-times  wedded  maid. 

We  have  put  it  down  as  a  maxim  that  no  man  can 
be  beloved  or  popular,  as  a  missionary  or  a  man,  in 
Hawaii-nei,  who  is  not  either  from  natural  disposition, 
or  in  default  of  that,  from  purpose  and  policy,  particu 
larly  patient,  condescending,  and  social  in  his  inter 
course  with  the  people.  Any  one  that  cannot  be  so,  or 
who  will  not  make  up  his  mind  to  exercise  much  self- 
denial,  and  spend  considerable  of  his  time  in  talking 
with  the  natives,  receiving  calls,  and  listening  to  their 
manaos,  (thoughts,)  had  better  not  come.' 

The  most  beloved  and  best  missionaries  are  the  most 
easy  and  gracious  in  their  dealings  with  the  natives. 
You  cannot  be  cold  and  reserved,  or  keep  them  at  a 
distance,  without  keeping  away  their  confidence  and 
love.  There  must  be  much  gentleness,  a  kind,  obliging 
temper,  and  a  considerable  degree  of  familiarity  al 
lowed,  or  their  regard  for  you  will  be  slight,  and  your 
influence  over  them  inconsiderable. 

It  is  much  more  agreeable  to  nature  to  commune  in 
one's  study  with  books,  or  to  be  enjoying  the  society  of 


THE   TRUE   POLICY   FOR   A   MISSIONARY.  267 

family  and  friends,  than  waiting  upon  ignorant  though 
well-meaning  Kanakas,  that  can  add  nothing  to  one's 
intellectual  stores,  patiently  unravelling  their  liihias, 
(moral  entanglements,)  listening  to  the  tale  of  their  cor 
ruptions,  or  sitting  in  judgment  upon,  their  strifes.  But 
all  this  must  be  willingly  submitted  to  if  a  man  will 
gain  influence,  and  will  not  quite  forego  the  fruit  of  his 
labors.  There  must  be  a  mutual  love  and  confidence 
begotten  between  pastor  and  people  by  these  offices,  or 
the  good  that  can  be  done  is  almost  nothing. 

There  is  one  part  of  the  pastor's  discipline  at  Waialua 
that  commends  itself  as  wise,  and  worthy  of  imitation 
among  more  cultivated  people  than  Hawaiians.  I  mean 
the  way  he  deals  with  cases  both  of  gross  and  minor 
delinquency,  where  yet  the  offenders,  are-  not  cut  off. 
When  church  members  have  confessed  to  him  sin,  or  it 
has  been  found  out  in  any  way,  and  they  seem  penitent, 
he  confesses  it  in  their  stead,  and  rebukes  them  publicly 
before  the  church  on  the  days  of  communion,  rather 
than  let  them  confess  at  length  themselves,  and  lay  bare 
the  deep  ulcers  of  their  souls,  with  the  horrid  kind  of 
delight  that  some  men  seem  to  have  in  exposing  their 
own  depravity. 

ISTo  careful  observer  who  has  been  much  conversant 
with  men  in  religious  matters,  can  fail  to  have  taken 
notice  of  the  secret  pleasure  which  some  persons  have 
in  detailing  their  sins,  criminating  themselves,  and  mi 
nutely  relating  the  circumstances  of  their  guilt.  You 
hear  such  confessions  sometimes  in  church-meetings,  to 
let  brethren  and  sisters  know  how  wicked  they  have 


268  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

been ;  but  it  is  almost  always  of  sins  that  were,  and 
that  had  better  be  let  alone,  except  to  mourn  over  them 
before  God ;  seldom  of  those  to  which  the  man  is  now 
habituated,  and  that  are  a  real  stumbling-block  in  his 
business  and  family. 

The  pastor  often  listens  to  them  with  surprise  and 
sorrow  in  private.  Sometimes  they  are  protruded  be 
fore  promiscuous  assemblies,  with  a  wanton  though  con- 
cealecb  pleasure,  to  be  detected  by  an  acute  observer, 
arising  from  the  self-instituted  comparison  which  the 
confessor  makes,  and  which  he  supposes  his  hearers  to 
be  making  also,  between  his  past  wickedness  and  pres 
ent  goodness,  and  from  the  supposed  imputation  to  him 
self  of  humility  in  the  minds  of  others,  for  being  will 
ing  to  make  such  disclosures  of  his  sins. 

There  is  not  a  little  of  this  to  be  observed  in  the 
publicly  related  experiences  of  reformed  drunkards,  of 
whom  he  is  thought  to  be  the  most  entertaining,  and  is 
made  the  lion,  who  can  tell  the  most  terrible  tale  in  his 
own  person,  (Quce-que  ip'se  miserrima  vidi,  et  quorum 
pars  magna  fui'j)  of  the  degradation  and  woe,  the 
bestiality  and  filth,  of  intemperance.  "We  shrewdly 
suspect  these  public  experience-tellers  of  sometimes 
adding  a  thing  or  two,  like  the  venders  of  the  last 
words  of  noted  pirates  and  highwaymen,  in  order  to 
make  out  a  case,  and  horrify,  and  get  it  to  go  the 
better. 

And  we  think  there  is  no  small  danger  of  the  public 
taste  becoming  vitiated  by  the  disgusting  exhibitions 
that  are  sometimes  made.  Certain  it  is  that  in  all  such 


A   COMMON   WEAKNESS   CONSIDERED.  269 

confessions,  (those  first  spoken  of,)  there  is  more  of 
pride  than  of  conscious  shame,  or  humble  grief,  or  glory 
to  God.  They  are  alike  unedifying  to  those  to  whom 
they  are  made,  and  to  those  by  whom  they  are  made, 
except  for  the  relief  they  now  and  then  give  to  a  bur 
dened  conscience. 

True  shame  and  repentance  for  private  sins  does  not 
seek  the  meeting-house,  but  the  closet,  to  confess  in ;  not 
the  itching  ears  of  men,  but  the  ear  of  the  all-hearing 
God.  It  says  to  him,  like  David,  Against  thee,  thee 
only  have  I  sinned  and  done  evil  in  thy  sight.  If  the 
sin  has  been  public,  and  an  injury  to  men,  then  indeed 
will  genuine  repentance  suggest  the  reasonableness  of 
making  a  public  confession,  and  seeking  pardon  of  men 
as  well  as  of  God.  But  it  is,  if  we  mistake  not,  with 
heart-felt  sorrow  for  sin  as  with  deep-felt  grief  for  some 
bereavement : '  both  seek  solitude  to  pray  and  mourn 
in,  and  ask  not  a  stranger's  intermeddling  therewith. 

We  always  conclude  that  an  affliction  is  not  felt  very 
deeply,  that  the  barbed  iron  of  sorrow  has  not  entered 
into  the  soul,  when  it  can  be  spoken  of  with  every  caller 
or  guest,  and  the  wound  it  has  made  in  the  sensibilities 
handled  and  shown.  It  argues  a  superficial  and  vola 
tile,  rather  than  a  deep-suffering  mind,  to  be  able  to  say 
much  about  its  sorrow.  A  heart  deeply  wounded  shuns 
the  sympathy  and  sight  of  all  but  God  and  a  few  bosom 
friends.  Its  anguish  cannot  be  told  and  shared  with 
many.  The  keenly  felt  trial  or  bereavement  must  be 
touched  gently,  and  will  not  be  talked  about  as  a  com 
mon  theme. 


270  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

It  is  only  the  sentimental  and  selfish  mourner,  pierced 
but  skin-deep,  yet  nursing  its  grief,  fostering  its  slothful 
love  and  dainty  sympathy,  that  can  be  fluent  and  fre 
quent  upon  the  subject  of  it.  Hence  the  language  of 
Cowper,  who  copied  what  he  wrote  from  the  tablet  of 
his  own  experience, 

To  him  that  e'er  has  felt  the  sting  of  sorrow, 
Sorrow  is  a  sacred  thing. 

He  would  not  approach  a  sufferer  rudely  and  drag 
him  into  notice,  whether  smarting  under  the  sting  of 
sin,  or  under  the  rod  of  God,  in  some  providential  be 
reavement,  because  experience  had  taught  him  that 
alike,  in  both  cases,  the  stricken  sufferer  seeks  conceal 
ment,  and  wants  but  one  Physician  and  one  Nurse. 

This  is  true  of  cultivated  and  fine  minds,  both  in 
respect  to  their  sins  and  sorrows.  But  it  does  not  hold 
so  certainly  of  the  coarser  sort,  of  uncultivated  and 
gross  spirits.  Hawaiians,  especially,  love  so  well  to 
appear  in  public,  that  they  are  pleased  even  to  be  al 
lowed  to  tell  their  sins  and  expose  themselves ;  perhaps 
glad  sometimes  of  an  occasion  to  be  haled  before  the 
church  that  they  may  make  a  show. 

And  they  like  so  well  to  talk  with  their  religious 
teacher,  and  to  be  talked  to,  that  they  will  even  thank 
him,  and  manifest  great  complacency  when  he  has  been 
giving  them  a  proper  dressing  for  their  sins. 

Mr.  Alexander,  of  Lahainaluna,  had  been  one  day 
administering  a  njpral  bastinado  to  a  man  for  his  wick 
edness.  When  he  had  done,  "  Aloha"  said  the  culprit 


HAWAIIAN   INSENSIBILITY   TO   SHAME.  271 

very  complacently,  "  Pomailcai  au,  ua  Tcamailio  kaua" 
— JJove  to  you  ;  I  am  happy,  we  two  have  had  a  talk. 
And  then  he  walked  off,  pocketing  his  reproof  without 
any  sign  of  malice  or  displeasure. 

When  Hawaiians  talk  in  meetings,  or  among  them 
selves,  like  Arm  ado  in  the  play,  they  are  apt  to  draw 
out  the  thread  of  their  verbosity  finer  than  the  staple  of 
their  argument.  In  words  they  are  never  wanting,  and 
almost  any  Hawaiian  can  spin  a  yarn  to  any  length, 
whether  to  his  Maker  or  his  fellow-men,  however  pinched 
he  may  be  for  the  matter  of  thought. 

Their  religious  teachers  have  to  conform  to  their  way 
in  this  particular ;  so  that  they,  too,  sometimes  weave  a 
very  large  piece  of  stuff  out  of  a  mere  pinch  or  handful 
of  the  raw  material  of  thought.  But  such  attenuated 
fabrics  hardly  wear  better,  or  bear  more  using,  than  t]ie 
native  cloth.  Perhaps  there  is  about  the  same  differ 
ence  between  right  good  sermons  in  English,  and  quite 
common  ones  in  Hawaiian,  as  between,  a  piece  of  good 
American  domestics,  and  an  Hawaiian  kapa. 

Natives  now  clothe  their  nakedness  quite  decently, 
both  in  kapas  and  cloth,  wherever  foreigners  are  ;  and 
it  were  a  good  sign  if  they  were  as  careful,  at  such  places, 
to  cover  up  their  moral  turpitude,  and  as  much  ashamed 
to  have  it  disclosed.  But  the  truth  is,  when  found  out, 
they  too  often  manifest  very  little  or  no  shame.  The 
blush  of  virtue,  the  genuine  feeling  so  well  described 
in  the  old  Eoman  word  pudor— Quidam  rubor  nativus 
et  incalescentia  genuina — you  seldom  see.f> 

They  will  often  hold  their  heads  as  high  after  being 


272  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 


exposed  in  gross  sins  as  ever  before.  Such  cases,  and 
the  fall  every  now  and  then  of  persons  who  have  had 
much  care  bestowed  on  them,  and  for  whom  high  hopes 
have  been  fondly  cherished,  must  make  the  heart  of  a 
faithful  missionary  very  sad.  He  has  need  often  to  say 
with  the  Psalmist,  My  soul,  wait  thou  wily  upon  God : 
my  expectation  is  from  him. 

One  of  the  deacons  at  "Waialua  was  convicted  not 
long  ago  of  having  promised  certain  individuals  to  get 
them  into  the  church  for  a  consideration  of  money. 
The  deacon  was  to  tell  them  beforehand  what  to  say  in 
answer  to  the  examining  questions  of  the-pastor. 

This  Tiookamani,  as  it  is  called,  or  deceitfulness  of 
Hawaiians,  stumbles  and  distresses  some  of  the  pastors 
more  than  is  meet.  To  me  it  seems  nothing  more  than 
should  be  naturally  expected,  nor  will  it,  we  think,  be 
very  wonderful  if  sin  should  continue  to  embarrass 
missionaries,  and  unexpected  developments  of  wicked 
ness  to  give  them  pain,  till  the  world's  end,  or  the  times 
of  millennium !  Whoever  thinks  otherwise,  or  imagines, 
at  home  or  abroad,  that  there  is  any  people  or  any  situ 
ation  without  stumbling-blocks,  or  any  royal  wray  of 
converting  the  world,  is  reckoning  without  his  host.  In 
one  shape  or  another,  he  will  find  everywhere  the  "  Pea 
hen." 

The  present  resident  missionaries  at  Waialua,  of  1850, 
are  Eev.  Messrs.  Emerson  and  G^li^,  with  their  wives. 
The  number  of  church  members  in  regular  standing  is 
six  hundred  and  eighteen.  Whole  number  admitted 
from  the  beginning,  on  profession  of  faith  in  Christ, 


HAWAIIAN   MANUAL   LABOE   SCHOOL.  273 

seven  hundred  and  seventy-three.  The  contributions 
there,  for  benevolent  purposes,  in  the  two  years  prior  to 
May,  1848,  were  nine  hundred  and  two  dollars,  of  which 
five  hundred  and  fifty-two  dollars  were  in  cash.  In  the 
nine  common  schools  of  the  district  there  are  ten  teach 
ers,  and  three  hundred  scholars. 

A  few  years  ago  Mr.  Locke  had  charge  of  a  manual 
labor  school  at  Waialua  of  twenty-one  boys,  which  he 
was  conducting  with  the  business  tact  and  energy  for 
which  he  was  distinguished,  and  with  efficient  aid  ren 
dered  by  a  "prudent  wife."  The  pupils  had  raised- 
their  food,  and  cultivated  seven  acres  of  sugar-cane. 
They  ground  the  crops  on  the  premises,  and  boiled 
the  juice  into  syrup,  the  sale  of  which  more  than 
supported  the  school. 

It  was  yet  an  experiment  in  a  nascent  state,  but  at 
the  time  of  its  suspension  it  had  cost  the  Board  nothing, 
and  had  a  balance  of  several  hundred  dollars  in  its 
favor.  The  industry  and  working  habits  of  the  lads, 
under  skilful  supervision,  were  becoming  effective,  and 
their  proficiency  in  useful  knowledge  considerable, 
through  oral  instruction  given  them  while  at  work,  and 
two  hours  daily  study. 

It  was  fairly  under  way,  and  giving  promise  of  great 
usefulness,  just  as  the  providence  of  God,  in  the  death 
of  Mr.  Locke,  broke  it  up.  By  one  stroke  of  disease, 
the  vigorous  wife  and  mother  was  taken  away  in  the 
midst  of  her  days  and  usefulness.  By  another,  the 
robust  husband  and  father,  the  youngest  of  the  Mission, 
was  suddenly  cut  down  a  year  after,  only  a  few  days 

12* 


274  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

before  he  was  going  to  embark  for  America  with  his 
three  little  daughters. 

The  orphans  are  providentially  cared  for  and  adopted 
in  the  family  of  Mr.  Locke's  missionary  associate,  Rev. 
A.  B.  Smith,  now  returned  and  resettled  in  the  ministry 
in  the  United  States. 

After  nearly  encompassing  the  island  of  Oahu,  I  have 
returned  to  the  Metropolis  by  way  of  Ewa,  the  station 
of  Rev.  Mr.  Bishop.  It  is  not  far  from  mid-way  be 
tween  Waialua  and  Honolulu,  twelve  miles  from  the 
one,  and  eighteen  from  the  other.  Besides  his  church, 
and  those  at  Kaneohe  and  Waialua,  there  are  two  others 
without  a  resident  pastor,  at  Hauula  and  Waianae  ;*  the 
one  having  one  hundred  and  eighty  members,  and  the 
other  two  hundred  and  seventy-one ;  most  of  whom 
were  set  off  from  the  parent  churches  at  Waialua  and 
Ewa. 

The  church  at  the  latter  place,  by  the  minutes  of 
1848,  has  in  regular  standing  one  thousand  five  hun 
dred  and  fifty-eight  members.  The  whole  number  re 
ceived  on  examination  is  one  thousand  nine  hundred 
and  four,  of  whom  one  thousand  five  hundred  and  twelve 
have  been  dismissed  to  other  churches,  one  hundred  and 


*  Stephen  Waimalu  was  ordained,  Sept.  25th,  1850,  pastor  of  the 
church  and  people  of  Waianae.  In  giving  him  a  call  to  settle  among 
them  as  their  pastor,  they  pledged  themselves  to  raise  annually  for  his 
support  $150.  Waimalu  is  the  third  native  who  has  been  ordained  to 
preach  the  Gospel  at  these  Islands  within  ten  months. 


VIEWS  OF  THE  MISSION  IN  KEGAKD  TO  PKOPEKTY.     275 

twenty-nine  have  died,  and  two  hundred  and  fifteen 
remain  excommunicated.  One  thousand  dollars  were 
contributed  for  benevolent  purposes  in  the  two  years 
prior  to  1848. 

Eor  several  years  before  the  present  experiment  of 
independency  by  the  Hawaiian  churches  was  under 
way,  the  station  at  Ewa  was  virtually  supported  by  the 
avails  of  the  mission  herd  turned  to  butter-making, 
under  the  management  of  Mrs.  Bishop. 

At  their  General  Meeting  in  1843,  the  Mission  re 
solved,  "  That  although  we  consider  the  salary  allowed 
us  by  the  Board  a  bona  fide  salary,  still,  in  our  charac 
ter  as  missionaries,  we  are  a  peculiar  people,  having 
wholly  consecrated  ourselves  to  the  Lord  for  the  spread 
of  the  Gospel  in  the  earth ;  and  however  it  may  be 
proper  for  other  men  to  engage  in  speculations,  and  ac 
cumulate  property,  we  cannot  consistently  with  our  call 
ing  engage  in  business  for  the  purpose  of  private  gain. 

"  We  therefore  deem  it  inexpedient  that  members  of 
our  body  should  possess  private  herds,  and  resolve  that 
the  mission  herds  be  continued,  and  that  those  who  are 
destitute  be  furnished  with  a  reasonable  number  of 
cattle  out  of  the  herds  or  the  funds  of  the  mission ;  and 
that  all  the  cattle,  horses,  and  carts,  held  by  us,  be 
regarded  as  the  property  of  the  American  Board,  and 
that  the  herds  be  not  allowed  to  increase  beyond  what 
is  needed  for  the  comfort  of  the  mission." 

In  May,  1848,  we  find  the  sense  of  the  Mission  at 
General  Meeting,  expressed  thus :  "  That  we  consider 
the  salary  allowed  us  by  the  Board,  is  to  be  used  by  us 


276  LIFE   IN    THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

according  to  our  own  discretion ;  accountable  only  to 
God,  our  own  conscience,  and  an  enlightened  public 
sentiment ;  and  that  all  rules  of  the  Mission  which  may 
be  inconsistent  with  this  principle,  be  rescinded." 

Mr.  Bishop,  the  pastor  of  Ewa,  was  one  of  the  first 
reinforcement,  along  with  Mr.  Eichards,  in  1823.  It 
affords  one  sincere  pleasure  to  see  the  two  oldest  mis 
sionaries*  now  on  the  ground  giving  evidence,  in  their 
vigorous  health  and  due  proportions,  of  having  lived 
happily  and  spent  well  in  their  good  work.  After 
having  reared  families,  founded  churches,  endured  op 
position,  and  borne  the  burden  and  heat  of  the  day, 
they  are  still  the  most  hearty  and  hale-looking  men  of 
the  mission.  May  God  keep  them  in  like  prosperous 
estate  for  yet  many  years  ! 

As  the  Senate  and  people  of  Home  used  to  decree 
concerning  the  men  who  had  done  their  country  service, 
ut  meruissent  bene  de  Repullica,  that  they  had  deserved 
well  of  the  Republic,  so  may  it  be  declared  with  like 
truth  of  these  men  and  their  co-workers,  who  have  con 
tinued  faithful,  that  they  have  deserved '  well  of  the 
American  churches,  in  whose  behalf  they  willingly 
went  on  foreign  service,  when  it  was  a  very  different 
undertaking  from  what  it  is  now. 

ME,  Bishop  has  things  to  tell  of  early  heathenism,  and 
of  the  habits  of  foreigners  in  those  days,  to  make  both 
the  ears  of  those  who  hear  thereof  to  tingle.  He  was 
one  of  the  deputation  that  went  round  Hawaii  with  Mr. 

*  Messrs.  Bishop  and  Thurston. 


FACTS  DERIVED  FKOM  THE  CENSUS.        277 

Ellis,  in  1824:,  and  his  means  of  becoming  acquainted 
with  the  traits  and  abominations  of  heathenism,  and 
self-made  heathen  from  Christian  lands,  have  been  equal 
to  any  man's. 

It  is  all  the  more  painful,  therefore,  to  hear  him  avow 
the  opinion  that  the  licentiousness  of  young  people  out 
of  the  church  is  as  great  now  as  it  ever  was,  and  that 
early  depravity,  more  than  any  thing  else,  is  depopu 
lating  the  nation,  by  prematurely  wasting-  its  productive 
powers.  Out  of  the  whole  population  of  this  island  of 
Oahu,  twenty-one  thousand  three  hundred  and  sixty- 
three,  there  are  only  four  thousand  nine  hundred  and 
thirty-one  persons  under  fifteen  years  of  age.  There  are 
only  four  hundred  and  twenty-eight  families  that  have 
three  or  more,  children,  and  there  is  not  one  child  on  an 
average  to  a  family  throughout  the  island. 

In  what  light  the  Mission  generally  regard  it,  may  be 
seen  by  the  report  of  a  committee  on  moral  reform,  as 
follows  :  That  in  their  opinion  the  present  time  calls  for 
very  special  and  efficient  measures  for  the  suppression 
of  licentiousness*  among  this  people,  and  especially 


*  A  very  pertinent  sermon  was  preached  at  the  Bethel,  in  Honolulu, 
on  the  evening  of  the  last  day  of  1843,  by  the  missionary,  Rev.  Mr. 
Armstrong.  It  was  on  the  duty  of  foreigners  to  the  Hawaiian  nation  ; 
the  text,  Jer.  xix.  7  :  And  seek  the  peace  of  the  city  whither  I  have  caused 
you  to  be  carried  away  captives,  and  pray  unto  the  Lord  for  it ;  for  in 
the  peace  thereof  shall  ye  have  peace.  It  was  published  by  request  in 
"  The  Friend,"  and  it  were  well  to  have  it  hung  up  in  the  shop  and 
office  of  every  man  that  goes  to  live  at  the  Sandwich  Islands.  Among 
other  excellent  sentiments  and  duties  aptly  enforced,  he  urges  it  as 
obligatory  on  all  residents  and  visitors  to  oppose  vice,  and  do  all  they 


278  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

among  the  youth,  and  they  would  recommend :  1.  That 
the  pastors  of  the  several  churches  take  special  pains 
to  instruct  the  parents  belonging  to  their  respective 
churches  and  congregations  upon  this  subject,  and  urge 
them  to  provide  separate  apartments  for  the  different 


can  to  deliver  the  nation  from  it,  and  especially  intemperance,  licentious 
ness,  and  gambling.  On  the  middle  one  of  this  triad  of  vices,  he  speaks 
forcibly  after  this  wise  : 

"  Would  you  measure  the  evils  which  have  come  upon  this  people 
from  this  quarter  ?  Look  abroad  over  the  length  and  breadth  of  the 
land,  and  inquire  after  the  multitudes  who  once  inhabited  villages  now 
deserted — where  are  they  ?  Why  do  you  meet  so  few  children  in  the 
streets  ?  and  why  are  so  many  diseased,  and  sink  into  premature  graves  ? 
After  long  observation  and  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  natives,  I 
am  of  opinion  that  the  diseases  consequent  upon  the  vice  of  which  I 
now  speak,  have  contributed  more  than  all  other  causes  put  together 
to  depopulate  these  fair  Islands,  and  produce  the  miseries  which  the  in 
habitants  now  suffer.  And  what  it  concerns  us  particularly  to  consider 
is,  that  these  diseases,  with  all  their  deadly  effects,  were  introduced  here 
by  the  licentiousness  of  men  from  Christian  lands ;  and  for  the  untold  evils 
which  have  resulted  from  them  to  this  unsuspecting  people,  such  men 
are  responsible." 

In  this  opinion  the  author  has  the  concurrence  of  all  the  missionaries, 
and  of  every  careful  inquirer  into  the  causes  of  the  nation's  decay,  and 
it  is  with  propriety  that  he  argues  at  the  close — 

"  If  our  reasoning  in  this  discourse  be  correct,  what  a  solemn  account 
will  they  have  to  render  at  the  bar  of  God,  who  have  taken  a  course 
directly  contrary  to  that  which  God  requires!  I  refer  to  men  who 
have  come  to  these  shores  from  Christian  lands,  and  done  evil  instead 
of  good ;  men  whose  general  course  of  life  has  been  to  sink  the  natives 
deeper  in  degradation  and  misery ;  to  encourage  them  in  their  vices, 
and  teach  them  vices  they  never  knew  before,  and  make  heathenism 
ten-fold  more  heathenish.  For  all  these  things  will  not  God  call  them 
into  judgment  ?  Are  those  dark  deeds  of  past  years  all  forgotten  ?  The 
avenger  of  blood  in  Israel  did  not  more  resolutely  and  swiftly  pursue 
the  man-slayer,  than  evil  pursues  such  men.  If  they  are  not  overtaken 
in  this  life,  they  will  be  in  the  next." 


THE   VICE   OF   LICENTIOUSNESS.  279 

sexes  in  their  families,  and  watch,  over  the  children  with 
more  than  common  solicitude  in  reference  to  this  crying 
sin  of  the  land  ;  that  pastors  also  use  all  feasible  means 
to  render  the  institution  of  marriage  honorable  and 
popular  among  the  people. 

2.  That  the  teachers  of  our  seminaries  and  schools 
form  societies  among  their  scholars  similar  to  the  plan 
of  "  Juvenile  Temperance  Societies,"  and  make  vigor 
ous  effort  to  render  the  sin  of  licentiousness,  in  all  its 
forms,  odious  and  unpopular.  3.  That  a  pledge  be 
adopted  which  shall  be  alike  in  all  the  Islands,  and  that 
the  signers  of  this  pledge  be  furnished  with  some  badge 
of  their  membership. 

The  Hawaiian  government  does  not  do  so  much  to 
suppress  the  vice  of  licentiousness  at  the  present  time, 
nor  is  it  so  strong  to  keep  good  morals  by  law,  as  under 
the  energetic  administrations  of  Kaahumanu,  at  Hono 
lulu,  and  of  Hoapili  at  Lahaina.  With  more  of  liberty, 
the  maxim  is  now  in  vogue  by  importation,  that  a  man's 
house  and  premises  are  his  castle,  and  that  a  constable 
has  no  right  to  enter  them  without  a  warrant.  But 


^  on  the  least  suspicion  of  evil  in  progress,  officers 
would  venture  anywhere  unresisted,  and  Bale  offenders 
to  justice  ;  and  so  vigilant  were  they,  that  vice  had  to 
skulk,  and  was  driven  out  of  many  a  hiding-place. 

Once  in  the  time  of  shipping,  Hoapili  sent  all  the 
women  of  Lahaina  off  to  the  other*  side  of  the  mountain, 
and  forbade  their  reappearing  on  the.  side  where  the  ships 
were,  under  the  penalty  of  imprisonment.  Govern 
ment  now  is  not  so  despotic,  and  the  Hawaiians  of  1850 


280  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

would  not,  probably,  tolerate  a  measure  that  a  mere 
word  would  have  executed  in  1824. 

With  written  laws,  and  more  of  civil  liberty  and  re 
ligion,  there  is  less  of  personal  restraint,  and  more  free 
dom  on  the  part  of  the  governed,  to  practise  wicked 
works  -with  them  that  work  iniquity.  Houses  of  infamy 
are  winked  at  and  allowed  at  Honolulu,  on  the  plea 
that  they  have  become  a  necessary  evil  just  as  in  all 
other  countries,  and  the  arm  of  government,  in  which 
both  law  and  religion  have  vested  the  authority  to  sup 
press  vice,  bears  the  sword  in  vain  as  to  this  species  of 
immorality,  provided  only  it  be  not  caught  openly. 

This  ought  not  to  be,  either  here  or  in  any  other 
State  where  there  are  good  laws  relative  to  lewdness. 
For  it  is  not  one  of  those  things  of  which  Milton  says, 
"  The  law  must  needs  be  frivolous  \vhich  goes  to  restrain 
things  uncertainly,  and  yet  equally,  wrorking  to  good 
and  evil;  and  were  I  the  chooser,  a  dram  of  well-doing 
should  be  preferred  before  many  times  as  much  the 
forcible  hindrance  of  evil-doing :  For  God  surely  es- 
teerneth  the  growth  and  perfection  of  one  virtuous  per 
son,  more  than  the  restraint  of  ten  vicious."  But  it  is 
a  palpable  arid  positive  evil,  unmixed  with  good.  It  is 
evil  only  continually.  And  they,  in  any  community, 
who,  having  the  administration  of  law  in  their  hands, 
do  not  execute  it,  but  suffer  houses  that  are  the  way  to 
hell,  going  down  to  the  chambers  of  death,  to  entertain 
the  harlot  and  the  young  man  void  of  understanding, 
they  are  responsible  for  the  wreck  of  morals,  and  the 
ruin  of  souls  there  made.  It  is  THEY  who  will  have  to 


THE   VICE   OF   LICENTIOUSNESS.  281 

answer  for  the  many  wounded,  yea^fhe  strong  men  slain 
there,  and  those  guests  in  the  depths  of  hell  ! 

The  plea  of  virtue  and  humanity  in  respect  to  what 
is  called  a  "  necessary  evil"  like  this,  is,  that  the  preva 
lence  of  an  acknowledged  vice,  and  the  consequent 
lucrativeness  of  pandering  to  it  in  seaport  towns,  are 
no  good  reason  for  letting  off  or  lightly  punishing  one 
found  guilty  of  it.  If  a  crime  were  of  such  a  nature 
that  nobody  would  ever  be  tempted  to  repeat  it,  that 
circumstance  might  fairly  be  urged  in  bar  of  any  severe 
or  exemplary  punishment  therefor;  but  to  hold  the 
proneness  of  depraved  humanity  to  any  vice  an  excuse 
for  those,  who  deliberately  devote  their  lives  to  its  ex 
tension  and  facilitation,  making  it  a  source  of  affluence, 
as  many  do  in  cities,  and  living  in  luxury  upon  its 
filthy  profits ;  or  to  argue  gravely  that  brothels  are  a 
necessary  consequence  of  the  growth  of  cities,  and  can 
not  therefore  be  suppressed,  this  is  a  perversion  of 
equity  and  good  policy  little  short  of  monstrous. 

Such  reasoning  would  subvert  all  morality  and  virtue 
whatever,  and  would  excuse  any  crime,  let  it  be  but 
common,  fashionable,  and  well  fortified.  Yea,  'twould 
"  sugar  o'er  the  devil  himself,"  and  all  his  devices. 

We  commend  to  honorable  magistrates  at  Honolulu 
and  elsewhere  the  reasonings  of  the  Duke  in  the  moral 
play  called  Measure  for  Measure : 

"We  have  strict  statutes,  and  most  biting  laws, 
Which  for  these  fourteen  years  we  have  let  sleep ; 
Even,  like  an  overgrown  lion  in  a  cave, 
That  goes  not  out  to  prey.    Now,  as  fond  fathers, 


282         •  LIFE    IN   THE    SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

Having  bound  up  the  threatening  twigs  of  birch, 

Only  to  stick  it  in  their  children's  sight 

For  terror,  not  for  use  ;  in  time  the  rod 

Becomes  more  mocked  than  feared :  80  our  decree 

Dead  to  infliction,  to  themselves  are  dead, 

And  liberty  plucks  justice  by  the  nose  ; 

The  baby  beats  the  nurse,  and  quite  athwart 

Goes  all  decorum. 

CORRECTION  AND  INSTRUCTION  MUST  BOTH  WORK, 

ERE  THIS  RUDE  BEAST  WILL  PROFIT. 


HEALTH    INHALED   FROM   THE   OCEAN.  283 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

RETROSPECTIVE  VIEW  OF  A  QUARTER   CENTURY  IN  THE  HEART  OF 
THE  PACIFIC. 

GOD  be  with  thee,  gladsome  Ocean ! 

How  gladly  greet  I  thee  once  more — 
Ships  and  waves,  and  ceaseless  motion, 

And  men  rejoicing  on  thy  shore  ! 
O  ye  hopes,  that  stir  within  me, 

Health  comes  with  you  from  above  ! 
God  is  with  me,  God  is  in  me  ! 

I  cannot  die,  if  life  be  love. 

S.T.COLERIDGE. 

We  join  ship  and  weigh  anchor— Life  and  the  world  seen  from  below  and  from  aloft— 
Differences  in  the  view  made  by  differences  in  the  position  and  personal  estate  of  the 
beholder— Light  from  eternity  colored  by  the  stained  glass  of  the  mind— Hope  for 
the  convalescent— Holding  a  telescope  to  the  past— The  great  landmarks— Astonish 
ing  statistics  of  progress— Consecutive  review  of  civilization  and  Christianity  in  the 
Heart  of  the  Pacific — Detail  of  results  and  fruits,  economic,  literary,  and  religions — 
Work  to  be  done  projected— True  relation  and  uses  of  the  Sandwich  Islands  to 
America— Necessary  leaning  of  the  one  upon  the  other  for  years  to  come— Disastrous 
eflects  to  be  apprehended  if  the  prop  should  be  withdrawn— The  true  policy  of  the 
Christian  Church  in  the  missionary  enterprise— Purposes  of  Providence  in  the  Island 
World— Chain  of  events— Outlook  upon  the  future— Probable  type  of  society— Trans 
planted  Puritanism— Strict  Sabbath-keeping— Anecdote  of  the  governor  of  Oahu  — 
Facts  illustrative  of  national  habits— First  law  the  Decalogue— A  change  too  great  to 
be  credited— To  whom  and  \vhat  the  people  ascribe  it— Unbounded  confidence  re 
posed  in  their  religious  teachers— First  experiments  by  the  chiefs— Fruits  of  the 
trial — Unparalleled  instance  of  a  moral  ascendency — Illustrative  anecdote  of  the  pres 
ent  king — Traducers  silenced  and  put  to  shame — Position  of  dignity  and  eminence — 
How  attained  and  the  ends  to  be  answered  by  it — Relations  of  the  Hawaiian  Islands 
to  China,  California,  Mexico,  and  South  America — Vista  of  futurity  opened — Con 
jectures  ventured — Ground  of  their  fulfilment — Falsehoods  met — Shafts  of  calumny 
repelled— Counter  testimony— Historians  noticed— Volume  concluded. 

HE  who  has  had  much  experience  of  suffering  and 
sorrow,  who  has  walked  thoughtfully  a  while  in  the 
valley  of  humiliation  and  adversity,  after  treading  with 


284:  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH    ISLANDS. 

eager  hope  and  'ambition  the  heights  of  prosperity,  or 
the  broad  table-land  of  ordinary  success^  has  learned 
how  differently  human  life  and  the  world  look,  from 
the  contrasted  points  of  elevation  and  depression. 

The  difference  is  not  greater  between  a  wide  mid 
summer  landscape,  viewed  from  some  commanding 
eminence,  stretching  away  on  one  side  into  the  distant 
mellow  haze  of  noon-tide,  and  on  the  other  half  hidden, 
but  its  beauty  not  marred,  by  interposing  drifts  of  va 
por  ;  and  a  part  of  that  landscape  seen  close  at  hand 
from  some  exposed  nook  in  the  same,  where  the  clouds 
are  dropping  a  drizzling  rain,  where  distance,  that  lent 
to  the  view  its  enchantment,  has  passed  into  plain  re 
ality,  and  things  appear  barren  and  bare  as  they  are, 
under  all  the  circumstances  of  discomfort  and  disadvan 
tage  that  invest  the  place  of  the  beholder. 

There  are  few  thinking  men  who  have  lived  long, 
that  are  so  happy  as  not  to  know  what  a  change  is 
made  in  the  aspect  of  things  'outward,  by  changing 
spirits,  feelings,  health,  and  moods  of  mind.  There  are 
few  who  have  not  sojourned  a  while  both  in  the  lights 
and  shades  of  human  life.  Invisibilia  non  decipiimt ; 
but  the  things  of  time  and  sense,  plans  and  prospects 
of  life,  the  aspects  and  colors  of  the  world,  all  the 
dear  objects  of  human  pursuit,  continually  change  and 
delude. 

Even  the  best  of  men,  whose  faith  in  eternal  realities 
is  constant,  whose  hope  is  steadfast  in  God,  who  have 
learned  to  put  under  feet  the  lying  vanities  of  time,  and 
to  walk  by  a  light  from  eternity,  whose  eye  is  cast  up- 


ASSIMILATING   POWER   OF   THE   SOUL.  285 

ward  and  onward,  and  their  habitual  aim  is  to  please 
God — even  they  find  the  hues  of  feeling  tinging  the 
objects  of  faith,  much  more  giving  color  to  all  earthly 
prospects,  like  light  falling  through  stained  glass ;  and 
those  hues  often  changing  writh  variations  of  bodily 
health  and  outward  circumstances. 

"  The  soul  hath  power,  through  God's  mysterious  plan, 
To  mould  anew  and  to  assimilate 
The  outward  incidents  that  wait  on  man, 
And  make  them  like  his  hidden,  inward  state. 
If  there's  a  storm  within,  then  all  things  round 
The  inward  storm  to  clouds  and  darkness  changes ; 
But  inward  light  makes  outward  light  abound, 
And  o'er  external  things  in  beauty  ranges. 
If  but  the  soul  be  right,  submissive,  pure, 
It  stamps  whate'er  takes  place  with  peace  and  bliss ; 
If  fierce,  revengeful,  and  unjust,  'tis  sure 
From  outward  things  to  draw  unhappiness." 

I  call  to  mind  those  remarkable  lines  of  Shelley, 
worthy  of  a  place  with  some  of  the  best  in  Shakspeare 
or  Milton,  for  the  extraordinary  combination  of  delicacy 
and  vastness  in  this  imagination : 

Life,  like  a  dome  of  many-colored  glass, 
Stains  the  white  radiance  of  eternity. 

The  difference  between  my  own  feelings  while  leaving 
Honolulu  now,  in  improved  health  and  spirits,  and 
those  with  which  I  approached  it  more  than  a  year  ago, 
a  weary,  sea-tossed  invalid,  is  greater  than  can  be  told. 
Depressed  and  anxious,  I  w^as  then  saying — 

Ah !  what  avails  all  other  earthly  good  ! 
How  tasteless  whatsoever  can  be  given, 
When  health  and  drooping  spirits  go  amiss ! 


286  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

God  be  praised,  from  whose  blessing  it  comes,  that 
now  heart,  and  hope,  and  brighter  prospects  all  hanging 
upon  that  pregnant  old  Saxon  word  HEALTH,  give  a  new 
face  to  every  thing.  Brightening  the  eye,  and  investing 
with  its  cheerful  green  even  things  external,  it  makes 
those  frowning  old  craters  and  barren  hill-sides  in  the 
vicinity  of  Honolulu,  fairly  look  verdant,  as  I  gaze  on 
them  for  the  last  time,  while  our  anchor  is  weighing, 
and  recall  the  propitious  providences  and  friends  I  have 
there  found. 

The  gentle  readers  who  may  perchance  have  followed 
me  with  pleasure  in  these  wanderings  through  the 
Heart  of  the  Pacific,  will  now  take  a  retrospective 
glance  at  facts,  through  the  telescope  I  hold  to  them  in 
this  chapter,  in  order  that  we  may  see  what  has  been 
done,  and  is  now  doing  for  the  improvement  of  the 
Sandwich  Island  kingdom,  and  to  consider  what  re 
mains  to  be  done  in  order  to  complete  the  work  of 
Christianizing  and  civilizing  the  Hawaiian  race. 

We  have  spent  some  time  at  all  of  the  nineteen  mis 
sionary  stations  but  one  where  there  are  resident  mis 
sionaries,  except  on  the  island  of  Kauai.  "We  have 
surveyed  missionary  and  native  life  under  various  as 
pects,  and  have  become  somewhat  acquainted  with  the 
modes  and  means  of  operation  upon  the  native  mind, 
and  their  results ;  and  with  the  trials  and  difficulties 
which  the  missionary  has  to  contend  with. 

We  have  mingled  with  the  people  in  the  house  and 
by  the  way,  in  the  field  and  the  school,  at  their  work 
and  their  play,  in  the  meeting  for  religious  inquiry  and 


STATISTICAL   REVIEW   OF   THE   MISSION.  287 

at  the  public  sanctuary.  We  have  seen  by  observation 
what  they  now  are,  and  we  have  heard  from  others 
what  they  once  were.  And  in  instituting  our  final 
comparison  between  the  Heart  of  the  Pacific  as  it  was 
anfl  is,  or  between  times  now  and  times  that  were,  when 
the  first  missionaries  landed  at  ^ailua,  we  will  take  the 
state  of  progress  found  at  the  lapse  of  just  one  quarter 
of  a  century,  as  indicated  by  a  careful  survey  and  com 
parison  of  statistics  derived  on  .the  spot. 

In  the  first  place,  there  labored  at  the  Sandwich  Isl 
ands  from  1820  to  1844,  at  different  times,  sixty-one 
male  and  sixty-seven  female  missionaries,  who  per 
formed  in  all  ten  hundred  and  eighty-eight  years  of 
missionary  service.  By  these  there  were  expended 
$608,865  in  their  outfit,  support,  and  missionary  work. 
After  twenty-five  years  from  the  first  settling  of  mission 
aries  among  a  race  of  the  very  lowest  savages,  there  were 
to  be  seen  erected  forty  permanent  dwelling-houses,  two 
printing-offices  and  binderies,  with  which  were  con 
nected  four  printing-presses ;  four  commodious  semi 
nary  and  school  buildings,  all  which,  together  with 
large  and  valuable  lands  attached  to  them,  were  the 
property  of  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for 
Foreign  Missions. 

Besides  these  results  of  Christian  industry  and  perse 
verance,  permanent  stone  Meeting-houses  were  found 
erected  at  almost  every  station,  by  the  united  skill  and 
resources  of  missionary  and  people,  giving  and  labor 
ing  voluntarily ;  and  about  three  hundred  and  seventy- 
five  school-houses.  The  Hawaiian  tongue  had  been 


288  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

mastered,  we  might  almost  say  created,  and  reduced  to 
writing,  and  one  half  the  adult  population  taught  to 
read.  There  had  been  established  four  hundred  and 
three  public  schools,  in  which  seventeen  thousand  four 
hundred  and  forty  children  and  youth  were  being  in 
structed. 

The  entire  Bible  had  been  translated  from  the  origi 
nal  tongues,  and  there  had  been  printed  fifty-two  thou 
sand  copies  of  the  New  Testament,  and  twenty  thou 
sand  of  the  Old,  besides  several  editions  of  one  and  ten 
thousand  copies  of  fragmentary  portions  of  the  Scrip 
tures,  before  the  entire  translation  was  completed.  Up 
wards  of  seventy  other  different  works,  large  and  small, 
had  been  compiled  and  issued  from  the  press,  and  the 
total  number  of  pages  printed  at  the  missionary  presses 
up  to  1844,  were  twenty-two  million  sixty-one  thousand 
seven  hundred  and  fifty. 

There  had  been  organized  twenty:five  independent 
native  churches,  and  there  had  been  received  to  them, 
on  examination,  thirty-one  thousand  four  hundred  and 
nine  persons,  of  whom  there  were  then  living  in  regular 
standing  twenty-two  thousand  six  hundred  and  fifty- 
two,  being  more  than  one-fifth  of  the  entire  population 
of  the  Islands. 

Besides  these  educational  results  that  can  be  con 
densed  into  statistics,  it  should  be  added  as  a  part  of 
their  education  as  a  people,  that  the  institutions  of  the 
Sabbath  and  of  Christian  marriage  had  been  firmly  es 
tablished  ;  government  had  been  rendered  compara 
tively  just  and  stable  ;  a  good  written  constitution  and 


CONDENSED  RESULTS   OF  EDUCATIONAL  SERVICES.     289 

laws  had  been  enacted  ;  life  and  property  were  ren 
dered  secure ;  the  country's  industry  and  resources 
were  beginning  to  be  developed.  The  Hawaiian  na 
tion's  independence  had  been  acknowledged  by  other 
nations,  and  it  was  admitted  into  the  fraternity  of 
Christian  States.  The  commerce  of  the  Islands,  that  is, 
the  value  of  its  commercial  exchanges,  or  bills  nego 
tiated  there  for  the  supply  of  ships,  had  grown  from 
little  or  nothing  to  two  hundred  thousand  dollars,  while 
the  yearly  net  revenue  of  the  kingdom  had  reached  to 
seventy  thousand  dollars,  and  the  annual  consumption 
of  foreign  goods  was  one  hundred  and  seventy-five 
thousand  dollars. 

For  the  educational  force  of  the  nation  there  were 
found  employed  at  the  lapse  of  the  first  quarter  of  a 
century,  as  religious  teachers  of  the  Hawaiian  people, 
or  in  other  missionary  service  among  them,  six  unmar 
ried  and  forty  married  missionaries,  having  families 
to  the  number  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  children. 
There  were  five  hundred  and  forty-eight  native  school 
teachers,  themselves  first  taught  by  the  missionary 
educators.  There  were  four  boarding-schools  or  semi 
naries,  having  two  hundred  and  seventy-six  pupils. 
.  There  were  two  -  families  formerly  in  the  service  of  the 
Mission  changed  to  that  of  the  government,  but  devo 
ted  to  the  improvement  of  the  Hawaiian  race. 

What  then  remained  to  be  done  before  the  Sandwich 
Islands  could  cease  to  be  missionary  ground,  and  what 
still  remains,*  in  order  to  complete  the  education  of  the 
Hawaiians,  is,  more  thoroughly  to  instruct  and  Chris- 

13 


290  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

tianize  the  common  people ;  to  train  up  an  educated 
native  ministry  which  the  people  shall  support ;  to  re 
form  the  national  habits  of  living ;  to  inculcate  upon 
the  sexes  modesty  and  chastity  ;  to  efface  the  dreadful 
characters  of  pollution  and  death,  which  heathenism  has 
been  burning  in  for  ages  upon  the  Hawaiian  constitu 
tion  ;  to  introduce  more  extensively  the  improvements 
and  arts  of  civilization  ;  to  develop  the  country's  agri 
cultural  resources,  and  to  foster  habits  and  institute 
new  ways  of  industry. 

In  order  to  accomplish  all  this,  there  are  needed  both 
religious  teachers,  physicians,  artisans,  mechanics,  and 
farmers,  to  lighten  the  load  and  do  the  undone  work  of 
worn  and  weary  pastors  ;  to  man  the  institutions  of 
learning,  and  to  afford  suitable  medical  aid  to  the  peo 
ple,  and  to  the  missionary  stations  remote  from  each 
other,  and  to  teach  the  natives  all  the  arts  of  peace. 

If  any  man  think  that  where  so  much  has  been  done 
little  remains  to  do,  in  the  process  of  national  instruc 
tion  and  elevation,  and  when  he  reads  that  within  the 
last  two  years  the  different  Hawaiian  churches  have 
contributed  in  cash  nine  thousand  three  hundred  dol 
lars  for  building  and  repairing  their  churches,  support 
ing  preaching  and  schools,  and  for  other  benevolent 
purposes — if  he  infer  that,  therefore,  the  great  Amer 
ican  Education  Society  can  soon  drop  their  Hawaiian 
pupils,  we  have  only  to  say  that  a  greater  mistake 
could  hardly  be  entertained. 

That  we  may  ere  long  leave  the  pastors  to  be  sup 
ported,  after  they  get  there,  in  great  part  by  the  peo- 


291 


pie,  is  undoubtedly  true.  But  America  must  continue 
to  supply  the  men  and  their  outfits,  and  lend  also  a 
helping  hand  to  educational  institutions  there  for  at 
least  twenty  years  longer,  and  the  leading  minds  in  the 
education  of  the  nation  must  be  from  abroad.  We  do 
not  say  that  if  the  American  Church  should  now  with 
draw  its  aid,  and  send  to  the  Heart  of  the  Pacific  no 
more  missionaries,  that  the  light  of  the  Gospel  would 
go  out  along  with  the  lamps  of  life  in  the  present  minis 
ters,  and  the  people  all  go  back  to  heathenism,  or  over 
to  the  Roman  Beast. 

Such  a  result  would  be  impossible ;  for  truth  has 
made  too  deep  an  impression,  and  taken  too  strong  a 
hold,  to  be  so  soon  effaced  or  uprooted.  Spiritual  life 
would  still  linger  here  and  there ;  and  though  the 
leaven  of  the  Gospel  might  in  many  cases  turn  sour 
and  become  rank  Romanism,  yet  the  salt  of  Divine 
truth  would  have  been  too  widely  diffused  to  let  society 
change  in  the  mass,  either  into  the  rottenness  of  Rome, 
or  the  Dead  Sea  of  paganism. 

Had  missionaries  there  done  nothing  (like  Schwartz 
in  India)  but  preach  the  Gospel,  this  might  be.  But 
they  have  wisely  translated  and  printed  the  Scriptures, 
and  founded  seminaries  and  schools ;  and  the  people 
would  know  too  much  to  be  befooled  into  baptized 
Romish  heathenism,  or  led  back  blindfold  into  that 
sottish  form  of  it  which  they  forsook.  They  would 
probably  soon  fall  into  practical,  lying  infidelity,  say 
ing  to  them,  what  they  like,  Let  us  eat  and  drink,  for 
to-morrow  we  die. 


292  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

There  would  be  just  enough  Christians  among  them 
to  keep  up  the  form  of  godliness  without  its  power, 
and  they  would  retain  enough  of  outward  religion  to 
keep  them  from  being  feared  like  barbarians,  by  for 
eigners,  while  they  would  practise  all  uncleanness  with 
greediness,  and  foreigners  would  join  with  them  in 
digging  the  nation's  grave  with  their  lusts. 

The  fact  that  the  Gospel  has  been  fairly  offered  to  a 
nation  of  more  than  one  hundred  thousand  souls  within 
much  less  than  the  period  of  one  generation ;  that  mul 
titudes  have  embraced  it  with  eagerness  ;  that  many 
have  died  in  the  faith  of  Jesus ;  that  many  live,  the 
exemplary  disciples  of  Christ,  to  praise  him  for  having 
ever  put  it  into  the  hearts  of  American  Christians  to 
§end  them  the  Gospel ;  and  that  a  nation  of  besotted, 
letterless  savages  has  been  reformed,  by  its  living 
educators,  into  an  orderly  nation  of  readers — all  this,  so 
far  from  allowing  American  philanthropy  in  the  least 
to  relax  its  efforts,  is,  as  it  were,  for  nothing  else  in  the 
arrangements  of  Divine  Providence,  but  to  give  the 
Church  a  standing  proof,  a  visible  demonstration,  of 
what  would  follow  from  a  proportionate  outlay  of  Chris 
tian  educational  agencies  upon  every  barbarous  nation 
on  the  face  of  the  earth.  When  it  can  be  said  that  the 
Protestant  school-master  is  abroad  everywhere,  as  at 
the  Sandwich  Islands  ;  when  the  teacher,  the  Christian 
minister,  the  editor,  and  the  author — those  four  lead 
ers  in  modern  civilization — are  planted  together  among 
all  the  tribes  and  families  of  man,  as  they  now  are 
side  by  side  in  the  Heart  of  the  Pacific,  the  ecluca- 


PURPOSES   OF   PROVIDENCE   IN    THE    PACIFIC.         293 

tion  of  the  world  for  its  golden  age  will  have  fairly 
begun. 

The  solid,  social  and  religious  progress  of  these 
heaven-blest  Isles  of  the  Pacific  is  every  day  becoming 
more  apparent  and  decided ;  and  soon  will  shine  out 
clearly  the  part  they  are  to  bear  in  the  Christianization 
of  the  great  realms  that  border  on  the  Pacific  upon 
either  shore,  in  the  track  of  whose  golden  commerce 
they  directly  lie.  Beyond  all  doubt,  it  is  for  some 
great  end  in  "Providence  that  they  have  been  so  remark 
ably  Christianized,  and  time  will  duly  develop  all  the 
links  in  the  Providential  chain  of  events,  that  shall 
yoke  this  best  American  missionary  experiment  with 
the  triumphal  chariot  of  the  King  of  saints. 

The  Heart ;  of  the  Pacific  shall  be  one  of  its  noblest 
trophies,  as  the  conquering  car  of  Emmanuel  traverses 
our  globe,  in  that  dear  and  not  distant  period  when  the 
great  voice  from  heaven  is  heard,  saying,  Lo,  THE  TAB 
ERNACLE  OF  GOD  IS  AMONG-  MEN  :  THE  KINGDOMS  OF  THIS 

WORLD  ARE  BECOME  THE  KINGDOMS  OF  OUR  LORD,  AND  OF 
HIS  CHRIST  ;  AND  HE  SHALL  REIGN  FOREVER  AND  EVER. 

It  is  natural  to  remark  here  upon  Sandwich  Island 
life  and  religion,  how  the  teachings  and  example  of 
missionary  instructors  descended  from  the  Puritans, 
and  colonizing  like  them  with  their  families,  for  a  re 
ligious  purpose,  in  the  howling  wilderness  of  heathen 
ism,  are  bringing  to  pass  a  state  of  society  that  shall 
prove,  we  trust,  in  due  time,  whatever  becomes  of  the 
native  race,  a  reprint  of  Puritanism.  There  is  the 
more  reason  to  hope  for  this  at  the  Hawaiian  Islands, 


294:  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

if  the  guns  of  Admiral  Tromelin  and  other  French 
commanders  in  the  Pacific  do  only  instruct  all  the  in 
habitants  so  effectively  into  the  nature  of  Popery,  that 
the  influence  of  the  twenty-five  Romish  priests  there 
shall  be  neutralized,  whose  interests  the  fallen  King  of 
the  French  (Louis  Philippe)  instructed  M.  Dillon  and 
the  commanders  of  the  French  frigates  to  look  after, 
and  whose  fidelity  in  so  doing,  at  the  cannon's  mouth, 
Louis  Napoleon  has  rewarded. 

True  missionary  Protestant  religion,  as  it  appears  in 
the  home  education  of  the  family,  as  it  is  developed  in 
the  children  of  missionaries,  of  whom  a  remarkable  pro 
portion*  have  become  Christians  at  the  Sandwich  Islands, 


*  Should  the  lives  of  the  children  of  modern  missionaries  be  all  writ 
ten,  and  compared  with  the  sons  and  daughters  of  other  Christians,  we 
are  persuaded  that  the  preponderance  of  virtue,  and  piety,  and  success 
in  life  would  be  found  largely  in  favor  of  the  former.  [  As  prosperous  or 
as  happy  as  the  child  of  a  missionary,  may  yet  become  a  proverb.  )  The 
children  of  the  Sandwich  Island  mission,  being  now  upward  of  one  hun 
dred  and  fifty,  have  thus  far  been  remarkably  favored  by  Abraham's 
God.  None  of  them,  so  far  as  can  be  learned,  after  much  inquiry,  have 
turned  out  poorly.  Many  of  them  adorn  the  Christian  Church.  Several 
of  the  sons  have  already  become  themselves  foreign  missionaries ;  others 
are  in  the  process  of  training.  And  of  the  daughters  arrived  at  adult 
age,  there  are  already  valued  teachers  and  wives  of  ministers,  and  some 
delightful  exhibitions  of  youthful  piety,  that  promise  much  for  time  to 
come.  Missionary  stock  will  be  as  honorable  to  spring  from  in  future 
times  as  that  of  the  Puritan  is  now.  May  scions  worthy  of  their  sires 
be  constantly  rising  in  a  long  line  of  future  posterity  ! 

Of  the  whole  number  of  missionary  children  living  at  the  period  when 
a  calculation  was  made,  about  twenty  years  from  the  first  organization 
of  the  Sandwich  Island  mission,  eighty-eight  were  boys,  seventy-two 
girls.  Total,  one  hundred  and  sixty :  whole  number  of  parents,  eighty- 
-five ;  of  families,  forty-one  ;  so  that  in  about  two-thirds  of  a  generation 


HAWAIIAN   EEGAED   TO   THE   SABBATH.  295 

as  it  is  engrafted  upon  the  natives,  as  it  pervades  their 
laws,  as  it  bears  upon  their  morals  and  upon  the  ob 
servance  of  the  Sabbath,  is  more  like  strict  old  Pu 
ritanism  than  any  other  national  exemplification  of  re 
ligion,  which  the  world  at  present  knows. 

The  outward  keeping  of  the  Sabbath  is  complained 
of  by  foreigners  throughout  the  Islands,  as  puritanically 
strict,  and  it  is  undeniably  much  more  so  than  in  Eng 
land  or  America  at  the  present  time.  It  is  called  the 
La  Tabu,  or  the  prohibited  sacred  day.  No  food  is 
cooked  on  that  day,  it  being  all  prepared  on  the  Satur^ 
day  previous,  no  fires  are  kindled,  no  canoes  are  pad 
dled.  They  neither  fish  nor  till  the  land,  and  if  they 
are  on  a  journey,  they  uniformly  stop  over  the  Sabbath. 
I  remember  to  have  been  at  a  missionary  station  when 
the  church  in  full  assembly,  and  not  moved  to  it  im 
mediately  by  their  pastor,  adopted  this  .  resolution : 
"  That  where ,  the  Sabbath  finds  us  on  a  journey,  there 
we  will  stop  and  keep  the  holy  day." 

Commander  Wilkes,  of  the  United  States  Exploring 
Squadron,  found  considerable  inconvenience  in  his  as 
cent  of  the  great  mountain  of  Mauna  Loa,  the  highest 
volcanic  dome  in  the  Pacific,  from  the  natives'  un 
willingness  to  travel  or  work  upon  the  Sabbath.  This 
is  owing  in  part  to  the  fact  that  when  the  chiefs,  in 
the  process  of  instruction  by  their  religious  educators, 


the  increase  has  been  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  per  cent.  At  the 
same  ratio  of  increase  the  descendants  of  these  missionaries  in  one  hun 
dred  years  would  amount  to  59,535. 


296  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

began  to  feel  the  necessity  of  having  some  written  laws, 
and  asked  the  missionaries  very  naturally  what  they 
should  be,  they  gave  them  a  copy  of  the  Decalogue,  then 
recently  translated.  This  the  chiefs  said  was  MAIKAI, 
i.  e.  good,  and  thus  the  Ten  Commandments  became 
the  law  of  the  land ;  and  they  are  in  force  to  this  day, 
along  with  other  written  laws  ;  so  that  a  man  is  fined 
for  unnecessary  travel  or  work  on  the  Sabbath. 

The  present  rulers  of  the  land,  as  well  as  the  com 
mon  people,  know  and  acknowledge  that  it  is  to  their 
missionary  teachers,  and  the  law  of  their  God,  that  they 
owe  every  thing.  The  confidence  they  repose  in  them 
is,  therefore,  unbounded,  and  they  sometimes  evince  a 
gratitude  and  love  that  are  truly  affecting. 

From  the  outset  of  the  missionary  enterprise,  the 
chiefs  watched  the  missionaries  with  a  scrutinizing  eye, 
and  agreed  to  let  them  stay  only  for  a  stipulated  time, 
having  their  fears  awakened  by  the  insinuations  and 
libels  of  malicious  foreigners.  The  result  of  the  trial 
was  perfectly  satisfactory.  They  became  Jhoroughly 
convinced  that  the  missionaries  were  their  true  friends, 
having  no  end  but  their  good;  the  confidence  which 
they  then  learned  to  repose  in  them  has  never  yet  been 
shaken. 

Among  the  common  people,  too,  there  are  not  a  few 
who  would  at  any  time  put  their  own  lives  in  jeopardy, 
in  order  to  defend  their  religious  teachers.  This  has 
been  practically  put  to  the  proof  in  several  instances, 
when  the  safety  of  missionaries  has  been  endangered 
by  the  brutality  and  analice  of  licentious  foreigners, 


ANECDOTE   OF  THE   HAWAIIAN    KING.  297 

balked  in  their  hopes  of  being  able  to  give  such  full 
swing  to  passion  as  they  once  could,  before  the  moral 
influence  of  missionaries  had  become  so  great  upon 
chiefs  and  people. 

The  present  king,  Kamehameha  III.,  was  called  upon 
one  day  a  few  years  ago,  by  a  lawless  and  rough  whaling 
captain,  a  lewd  man  of  the  baser  sort,  much  oftener 
met  with  then  than  now.  He  made  no  concealment  of 
his  dislike  to  the  missionaries,  and  well  knowing  the 
king's  former  fondness  for  wine  and  libertinism,  he 
urged  him  to  cut  loose  from  the  restraints  of  the  mis 
sionaries,  and  allow  himself  and  people  the  same  indul 
gences  as  formerly. 

"  Stop,  (said  the  king,)  did  not  your  shadow  fall  on 
me  as  you  came  in  there  at  my  open  door  ?"  "  Perhaps 
it  did,  and  what  of  that?"  "  Vhat,  but  if  it  had  not 
been  for  the  missionaries,  you,  or  any  one  else  whose 
shadow  should  thus  fall  on  the  king,*  would  very  likely 
be  a  dead  man  the  next  hour." 

This  significant  and  unexpected  turn  put  the  stopper 
so  tightly  to  the  foreign  captain's  anti-missionary  ven 
om,  that  he  had  no  more  fault  to  find  in  that  presence 
with  the  king's  religious  teachers. 

He  chose  this  method  of  expressing  his  approbation 
of  the  missionaries,  and  his  confidence  in  them,  well 
aware  of  the  common  imputation  of  their  meddling 
in  his  politics,  an  imputation  which  was  never  true 


*  AEuding  to  one  of  the  ancient  tabus  in  force  before  the  establish 
ment  of  Christianity. 

-   13* 


298  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

in  any  other  sense  than  is  both  honorable  and  meet 
for  both.  Very  happily  neither  the  King,  nor  his 
friends  the  missionaries,  see  any  reason  why  the  latter 
should  avoid  being  implicated,  by  advice  and  recom 
mendation,  with  government  measures  that  are  wise 
and  good. 

The  present  dignified  and  Christian  position  among 
the  nations,  of  the  Sandwich  Island  King  and  people, 
has  been  obtained  under  missionary  guidance  and  as 
cendency.  It  is  a  position  in  a  sense  prophetic,  as  well 
as  preparatory  to  the  mission,  yet  to  be  fulfilled  by  them 
in  the  grand  evolutions  of  Providence  along  the  line  of 
human  redemption. 

The  unprecedentedly  rapid  and  thorough  evangeliza 
tion  of  these  Islands  is  not  an  event,  which  is  to  stand 
alone  in  the  history  of  human  progress,  and  of  the  Gos 
pel  of  Christ.  It  has  relations  to  Japan,  to  China,  to 
Northeastern  Asia,  to  California,  to  Mexico,  and  South 
America,  that  are  yet  to  be  unfolded,  perhaps  to  the 
astonishment  of  the  world.  Through  them  may  the 
prophecy  yet  be  fulfilled  in  reference  to  Asia— GOD 
SHALL  ENLARGE.  JAPHETH,  AND  HE  SHALL  DWELL  IN  THE 
TENTS  OF  SHEM. 

This  at  least  we  may  rationally  conjecture,  that  it  is 
for  some  great  and  wise  end,  which  may  soon  appear, 
that  the  Heart  of  the  Pacific  has  been  so  wonderfully 
prepared  by  Divine  Providence  and  Grace.  As  an  ad 
mitted  voluntary  member  of  the  American  Confederacy, 
it  may  soon  become  the  great  missionary  printing  depot 
for  Eastern  Asia,  Japan,  and  its  archipelago  of  islands, 


THE  MISSIONARY'S  POST  OF  HONOK.  299 

whence  the  word  of  God  and  the  living  missionary 
teacher  shall  make  their  grand  entry  into  those  wide 
realms  of  paganism,  by  a  line  of  trans-Pacific  American 
Steamers. 

These  lone  islands  of  the  Pacific,  all  unknown  as  they 
were  to  the  whole  civilized  world,  until  the  era  of  the 
American  Revolution,  may  soon  become  such  a  centre 
of  light,  and  civilization,  and  moral  power  to  the  vast 
regions  bordering  upon  the  Pacific,  as  the  British  Isles 
have  been  to  the  countries  bordering  upon  the  Atlantic. 

If  the  men  who  have  been  instrumental  in  establish 
ing  Christianity  there,  do  but  labor  on  contentedly  with 
all  their  might,  we  believe  it  will  be  found  ere  long 
that  they  and  their  native  churches  are  having  a  mis 
sion  to  fulfil,  in  the  work  of  bringing  the  pagan  world 
to  Christ,  second  to  that  of  no  other  church  in  Christen 
dom.  The  time  may  be  near  at  hand,  when  it  will  be 
a  greater  honor  and  privilege  to  have  preached  the 
Gospel  faithfully  at  the  Sandwich  Islands,  and  that,  too, 
in  the  despised  vernacular  KANAKA  MAOLE,  than  to  have 
filled  ambitiously  the  best  Anglo-Saxon  pulpit  in  Eng 
land  or  America. 

We  say,  then,  with  a  slight  accommodation  to  the 
noble  island-band  of  devoted  missionaries  who  have 
been  laying  the  foundations  in  the  Heart  of  the  North 
Pacific  for  many  generations,  as  it  was  said  by  Milton, 
of  the  Puritan  hero, 

Great  things,  O  Islands,  we  expect  of  you  1 
Firm,  faithful  men  of  God,  who  through  a  cloud 
Not  of  war  only,  but  detractions  rude, 
Guided  by  faith  and  matchless  fortitude, 


300  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

To  peace  and  truth  your  glorious  way  have  ploughed, 

And  on  the  ground  of  pagan  temples  proud 

Have  reared  God's  trophies,  and  his  work  pursued ! 

*         *         *         Yet  much  remains 
To  conquer  still ;  peace  hath  her  victories 
No  less  renowned  than  war :  new  foes  arise, 
Threatening  to  bind  our  souls  with  secular  chains : 
Help  us  to  save  free  conscience  from  the  paw 
Of  hireling  wolves,  whose  gospel  is  then:  maw. 

In  concluding  this  volume,  I  cannot  but  express  the 
just  sense  of  indignation,  which  an  honest  man  should 
feel,  at  the  meanness  of  those  persons  who  will  belie  the 
labors  of  Christian  missionaries,  on  the  very  field  of 
their  operations, — a  field  which  mercantile  men  and 
officers  of  government  are  able  to  dwell  in  with  safety, 
only  because  the  patient  missionary  has  been  there  be 
fore  them,  and,  through  God's  blessing,  changed  in 
great  part  the  character  and  manners  of  so  recently  de 
praved  savages.* 


*  The  following  is  the  disinterested  testimony  of  a  late  U.  S.  Consul 
at  Honolulu,  the  Hon.  Joel  Turrill,  formerly  a  member  of  Congress 
from  the  Stftte  of  New  York :  "  For  several  years,"  he  says,  "  before 
leaving  the  United  States,  I  had  been  disinclined  to  favor  the  efforts 
that  were  making  to  send  missionaries  abroad,  believing  that  such  ef 
forts  otherwise  directed  would  be  productive  of  much  more  good ;  but 
during  my  residence  in  these  Islands  I  have  been  an  attentive  observer 
of  the  effects  produced  by  those  efforts  on  the  Hawaiian  race,  and  I  am 
free  to  confess  that  my  feelings  upon  this  subject  have  undergone  a 
material  change.  I  find  here  as  missionaries,  individuals  who,  so  far  as 
my  observations  have  extended,  are  worthy  of  their  high  calling ;  and  the 
result  of  their  labors,  so  apparent  in  the  vast  improvement  in  the  moral 
and  physical  condition  of  its  people,  forces  the  conviction  on  my  mind, 
that  they  have  devoted  themselves  to  their  arduous  duties  with  a  zeal 
and  singleness  of  purpose  worthy  of  the  great  work  in  which  they  are 


FUTUKE   MISSIONARY   ENTHUSIASM.  801 

Every  effort  to  traduce  their  characters  and  work,  or 
the  native  churches  they  have  been  instrumental  of 
gathering,  should  be  met  at  once  with  an  irresistible 
array  of  opposing  evidence  and  conviction.  It  were 
right  for  the  face  of  Christendom  to  gather  blackness, 
at  such  malicious  attempts  to  weaken  the  faith  of  the 
Church  in  the  conduct  or  results  of  the  glorious  mis 
sionary  enterprise — an  enterprise  which  is  yet  to  attract 
to  itself  more  true  nobility  and  enthusiasm,  than  have 
ever  been  carried  into  any  enterprise  undertaken  under 
the  sun.  The  missionary  enthusiasm,  which  until  now 
has  been  confined  to  a  few  heroic  spirits,  shall  yet  per 
vade  the  ranks  of  the  Christian  Church,  disarm  opposi 
tion,  and  inspire  all  hearts. 

The  very  spirit  of  the  world  is  tired 

Of  its  own  taunting  question,  asked  so  long, 

"  Where  is  the  promise  of  your  Lord's  approach  ?" 

The  infidel  has  shot  his  bolts  away, 

Till,  his  exhausted  quiver  yielding  none, 

He  gleans,  the  blunted  shafts  that  have  recoiled, 

And  aims  them  at  the  shield  of  Truth  again. 

But  it  is  too  late  in  the  serious  drama  of  the  world's 
evangelization,  for  the  blunted  shafts  of  slander  to  re 
tard  its  course.  The  testimony  of  unprejudiced  men 
like  the  English  Rear-admiral  Thomas,  Sir  George 
Simpson,*  Commander  "Wilkes  and  other  officers  of 


engaged.     I  do  not  believe  that  another  instance  can  be  found,  where, 
with  the  same  amount  of  means,  so  much  good  has  been  done  to  any 
people  in  so  limited  a  period." 
*  See  note  B. 


302  LIFE   IN  THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

the  United  States  Exploring  Squadron,  saying  nothing 
of  the  concurrent  reports  of  a  host  of  Christian  travel 
lers,  is  all  on  file  before  the  world ;  and  in  the  chancery 
of  public  opinion  it  will  outweigh  as  many  anonymous 
sheets  of  calumny,  as  would  bridge  the  Pacific  from 
Panama  to  Oahu. 

If  any  reader  be  in  quest  of  authentic  Hawaiian 
annals,  he  will  find  his  curiosity  well  gratified  in  the 
perusal  of  the  late  very  full  history,  by  Rev.  Hiram 
Bingham,  Hartford ;  or  that  by  Mr.  Jarves,  issued  in 
Boston,  1842;  or  a  history  by  Eev.  Sheldon  Dibble, 
printed  at  the  Lahainaluna  mission  press,  Sandwich 
Islands.  "While  they  are  each  replete  with  information 
of  substantial  interest  to  the  general  reader,  the  last 
work  is  to  the  Christian  perhaps  the  most  valuable  of 
the  three. 

"We  regard  them  all  as  well  prepared  seed-beds,  from 
which  the  yet  formless  garden  of  Hawaiian  history  will 
largely  draw.  If  in  this  volume  there  has  been  con 
tributed  one  worthy  plant,  to  be  set  out  by  the  future 
historian  in  that  fair  garden ;  and  if  it  has  helped  its 
readers  to  a  correct  view  of  the  Heart  of  the  North 
Pacific,  as  it  was  and  is,  the  end  of  its  author  is  ful 
filled,  and  on  it  he  inscribes 

w  Kai  E 


APPENDIX, 


THE  HEAKT  OF  THE  PACIFIC.  305 


APPENDIX, 


WE  give  below  a  commercial  view  of  the  Heart  of 
the  Pacific,  as  contained  in  authentic  statistics  of  Ex 
ports  and  Imports  at  the  Sandwich  Islands,  for  the  year 
1850,  a  tabular  view  of  their  educational  and  religious 
progress ;  also  a  documentary  history  of  the  late  contro 
versy  with  the  French  at  the  Hawaiian  Islands  ;  and  a 
paper  from  the  London  Athenaeum,  on  the  comparative 
history  and  fortunes  of  tlie  conquering  race,  that  is  so 
rapidly  colonizing  and  becoming  dominant  upon  the 
coasts  and  throughout  the  Isles  of  the  Pacific,  no  less 
than  of  the  Atlantic. 

IMPORTS  for  the  year  1850,/rom  the  following  countries: 

California $305,913.28 

United  States 283,037.49 

Great  Britain 63,987.69 

British  Colonies 114,782.11 

China 109,124.19 

Chili 58,097.84 

Manilla 33,187.84 

Tahiti 19,288.29 

Vancouver's  Island 15,942.59 

France  . 7,633.48 

Columbia  River,  Sitka,  Bremen,  Kamtschatka,  Callao,  Bonin 

Isles 24,063.90 


$1,035,058.70 


306 


LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 


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THE   HEAKT   OF   THE   PACIFIC. 


307 


DOMESTIC  EXPORTS  from  Honolulu  and  Lahainafor  the  year  1850. 

HONOLULU  and  KAUAI. 

Sugar, Ibs.     597,831 

Molasses,  galls.     34,900 

Syrup,  «         9,000 

Coffee, Ibs.      194,073 

Salt, bbls.       5,750 

Lime, "  100 

Beef, «  10 

Hides, Ibs.        20,241 

Tallow, "  3,703 

Goatskins, skins     24,983 

Irish  Potatoes, bbls.        5,331 

Sweet     " «          4,178 

Onions,  "  252 

Yams, "  144 

Arrow-root, Ibs.          6,956 

Hay, tons  28£ 

Pickles,   bbls.  90-J 

Coral, blocks     1,628 

Mustard-seed, Ibs.          1,023 

Cattle  50,  Horses  2,  Mules  1,  Sheep  10,  Goats  10,  Swine  179,  Fowls  49 
doz.,  Turkeys  19  doz.,  Eggs  2,010  doz.,  Brooms  410  doz.,  Pumpkins 
4,678,  Melons  950,  Cocoanuts  2,100,  Cocoanut  Door-mats  119,  Wood  4 
cords,  Mat-bags  500,  Oranges  22,000,  Charcoal  69  bags. 
Limes,  Lime  Juice,  Peppers,  Bananas,  Poi,  Butter,  Rope,  Furniture,  and 
Sashes, $603.33 

Total  value  as  per  Manifests, $139,007.79 

LAHAINA. 

Sugar,  Ibs.      152,407 

Molasses, galls.  18,955 

Syrup, "  66,577 

Coffee,  Ibs.  14,355 

Salt, , sacks  1,912 

Lime, ' bbls.  80 

Irish  Potatoes, "  46,626 

Sweet,      "        :    "  5,453 

Onions, "  1,606 

Yams, "  20 

Arrow-root, Ibs.  2,676 

Pickles, bbls.  627 

Coral , , blocks     1,428 


308  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

Sheep  and  Goats  182,  Swine  444,  Fowls  86£  doz.,  Eggs  504  doz., 
Pumpkins  62,016,  Cocoanuts  22,450,  Oranges  117,500,  Melons  4,610, 
Pine-apples  14,300,  Cabbages  1,600,  Sweetmeats  212  galls.,  Lime- 
juice  304  galls.,  Beans  64  bbls.,  Corn  5  bbls.,  Butter  157  Ibs.,  Vinegar 
168  galls.,  Wood  61  cords,  Lumber  21,072  feet. 

Total  value  as  per  Manifests,  from  Lahaina, $241,314.84 

"  "  "  Honolulu.... 139,007.79 

Value  of  Domestic  Produce  exported  and  fur 
nished  to  ships  at  the  three  ports  on  the  isl 
and  of  Hawaii,  (estimated) 20,000.00 

Domestic  supplies   furnished  to  342  merchant 

vessels  at  Honolulu.    Average  $200  each 68,400.00 

Domestic  supplies  furnished  to  106  whale-ships 

(inside)  at  Honolulu.     Average  $250  each....         26,500.00 

Domestic  supplies  furnished  to  13  ships  of  war 
and  surveying  vessels  at  Honolulu.  Average 
$500each 6,500.09 

Domestic  supplies  furnished  to  112  whale-ships 

at  Lahaina.     Average  $220  each 24,640.00 

Domestic  supplies  furnished  to   127  merchant 

ships  at  Lahaina.    Average  $80  each 10,160,00 

Total  value  of  domestic  exports  and  supplies 

furnished  at  Honolulu  and  Lahaina,  for   the 

year  1850 t $536,522.63 

MEMORANDUM  of  Spirituous  Liquors  which  paid  five  dollars  per  gallon 
duty  at  the  Custom-house  in  Honolulu,  for  consumption  in  the  kingdom, 
during  the  years  1847,  1848, 1849,  and  1850.  And  also  the  amount  of 
each  kind  consumed  during  the  year  1850. 

1847 3,271  gallons.  1849 5,717  gallons. 

1848 3,443       "  1850 8,252       " 

1850. 

Brandy, 6,484^  gallons. 

Gin, 1,159£  " 

Samshoo,  (China,) 112  " 

Absinthe, 74£  " 

Rum, 337i  " 

Scotch  Whisky, 84$  " 

8,252      « 


THE  HEART  OF  THE  PACIFIC.          309 

Gross  receipts  at  Custom-houses  of  Oahu,  Maui,  and  Kauai,  for  1850. 
HONOLULU. 

Import  duties  paid  on  Goods  and  on  Spirits  and 

Wines  actually  consumed, ' $91,953.11 

Transit  duties, 443.42 

Harbor  dues, „ , 12,644.54 

Stamps, 2,579.50 

Fines  and  Forfeitures, 877.46 

Interest, : 323.50 

Storage, 3,245.15 

$112,066,68 
HARBOR  MASTER. 

Shipping  and  discharging  Seamen, 2,711.00 

Stamps, 1,413.00 

$116,190.68 
LAHAINA. 

Import  duties, •. 2,323.48 

Transit  duties, .'. 39.92 

Harbor  dues, 1,299.60 

Stamps, 1,276.00 

Shipping  Seamen, .  264.15 

$5,203.15 
WAIMEA,  KEALAKEAKUA,  AND  HILO. 

Stamps  and  Harbor  dues, 112.90 

$5,316.05 
Add  amount  from  Honolulu, 116,190.68 

Total  Receipts, $121,506.73 

MEMORANDUM  of  Imports  and  Exports  of  Houses,  House  Frames,  and 
Lumber  of  various  descriptions,  at  Honolulu,  during  the  years  1848, 
1849,  and  1850. 

IMPORTS.  , 

1848.  1849.                    1850. 

Boards,  Plank,  Joist,  <fcc., 809,038ft.  237,703         2,180,448 

Large  Timber,... 145,550 

Oak  Plank, 8,230  16,449 

Clapboards,  5,000  25,250             112,393 

Pickets,  9,500  57,830 

Latns,    44,500  155                1,687 

Palings  and  Battens, 23,331 


310 


LIFE   IN  THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 


1848.                 1849.  1850. 

Shingles, 543,500                 673  2,087,450 

Door  and  window  frames,  blinds, 

and  sashes.     Valued, $296.63  $821.90 

House  frames, .*..  171,  No. 

Houses,  (complete,  or  nearly  so,)  169 

Total  value  as  per  Invoices........  $18,856.48       $7,603.63  $101,175.19 

EXPORTS. 

1848.                   1849.  1850. 

Boards,  Plank,  Joist,  <fcc., None.  143,111  ft.      None. 

Clapboards, "                     5,000  " 

Laths, "  119,000 

Shingles, "                 171,000  " 

Door  Frames  and  Sashes.  Valued,           "                 $997.81  " 

House  frames, "                            1  " 

Bowling  Alleys,  complete, "                            1  " 

Houses, «  17 

Total  value  as  per  out'd  Manifests,          "           $26,441.11  " 

Condition  of  the  Revenue  of  the  Hawaiian  Kingdom,  for  the  year  ending 
31st  of  March,  1851. 

From  cash  on  hand  last  year $46,191.18 

The  Bureau  of  Foreign  Imposts 118,901.38 

"             Internal  Commerce 22,514.75 

"             Internal  Taxes 52,455.26 

Fees  and  Perquisites 15,314.72 

"             Coasting  Trade  and  Fisheries * 4,269.27 

"             Government  Realizations 56,495.22 

"            Fines  and  Penalties .•...  14,404.25 

$330,546.03 
Table  of  Disbursements. 

For  the  King  and  Privy  Council $19,966.16 

"      Department  of  the  Interior 140,030.52 

"                  "              Foreign  Relations 4,730.64 

«                  «              Finance 15,080.08 

Public  Instruction 28,825.07 

Law 10,106.84 

For  miscellaneous  expenses , 10,106.84 

For  amount  disbursed  on  bills  payable,  less  than  has  accrued 

on  bills  receivable 2,126.42 

$250/707.56 

Balance $79,838.47 


THE  HEART  OF  THE  PACIFIC. 


311 


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LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 


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THE  HEART  OF  THE  PACIFIC.  313 

A  comparative  view  of  the  business  of  the  Hawaiian 

Islands  in  the  years  184^  and  1850,  may  be  obtained 
from  the  following  estimates  and  items,  as  found  in  the 
Hawaiian  Government  Paper  of  February  8th,  1851, 
published  at  Honolulu. 

Gross  receipts  at  the  Custom  House,  Honolulu,  1849 $79,802.75 

"                                       "                 "             1850 116,190.68 

Increase  in  1850 36,387.93 

Gross  receipts  at  the  Custom  House,  Lahaina,  1849 3,330.70 

«                                       "                 "           1850 5,203.15 

Increase  in  1850 1,872.45 

Gross  receipts  at  Hawaii  and  Kauai,  1849 97.87 

1850 112.90 

Increase  in  1850 15.03 

Domestic  exports  from  Honolulu  and  Kauai,  1849 89,743.74 

1850 139,007.79 

Increase  in  1850 49,264.05 

Domestic  exports  from  Lahaina,  (estimated,)  1849 14,000.00 

«                                  "         1850 241,314.84 

Increase  in  1850 227,314.84 

Gross  value  of  imports  for  1849 729,739.44 

«                   «             1850 1,053,058.70 

Increase  in  1860 328,319.26 

Net  consumption  for  1849 622,637.37 

«                       1850 1,006,528.98 

Increase  for  1850 383,891.61 

Value  of  Imports  from  different  countries. 

1849.  1850. 

United  States $239,246.42     $283,037.49 

California 131,505.89     305,913.28 

Great  Britain 44,578.11     63,987.69 

British  Colonies 52,821.59     114,782.11 

China 95,787.27     109,124.19 

Chili 87,356.05     58,097.84 

France.. 23,455.78     7,633.48 

Tahiti  19,340.27     19,288.29 

Columbia  River,  (Vancouver's  Island).. .       12,672.38     15,942.59 

Hamburg 9,723.58     none. 

Miscellaneous 13,252.10     24,063.90 


314 


LITE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 


The  following  are  the  principal  items  of  domestic  export  for  the 
years  1849  and  1850.  The  tables  for  1849  do  not  give  the  exports 
from  Lahaina  in  a  separate  list,  as  is^he  case  for  the  year  1850.  As 
few  vessels  loaded  at  that  port,  during  1849,  direct  for  California, 
only  18  merchant  vessels  are  reported  as  having  arrived  there;  while 
;in  1850,  127  arrived,  a  large  proportion  of  which  took  in  cargoes,  or 

parts  of  cargoes,  for  California. 

184f>.  1850. 

Sugar,  Ibs 653,820     750,238 

Molasses,  gallons 41,235     53,855 

Syrup,  gallons none     75,577 

Coffee,  Ibs 28,231     ......     208,428 

Salt,  barrels 2,866     6,000 

Lime,  barrels 906     180 

Beef,  barrels  158     10 

Hides,  Ibs 2,512     20,241 

Tallow,  Ibs 17,403     3,703 

Goat-skins  31,488     24,983 

Irish  potatoes,  barrels  858     51,957 

Sweet  potatoes,  barrels 306     9,631 

Onions,  barrels about  200     1,858 

Yams,  barrels none     164 

Pumpkins....*. about         1,000     66,694 

Cocoanuts  none     23,550 

Oranges about       10,000     139,500 

Melons  about         1,000     5,560 

Pineapples none     14,300 

Fowls none     1,626 

Turkeys 500     228 

Swine none     623 

Arrow-root,  Ibs none     9,632 

Eggs,  dozen  not  stated 2,514 

These  are  the  most  important  items  of  export,  and  it  will  be  seen 
that  the  great  increase  over  the  previous  year  has  been  in  what  may 
properly  be  called  the  staples  of  the  Islands — sugar,  molasses,  syrup,  salt, 
Irish  and  sweet  potatoes.  Vegetables  of  less  importance  and  fruits 
have  greatly  increased,  and  arrow-root  has  again  taken  its  place  among 
the  exports  from  the  Islands ;  and  of  these  articles  the  production  can 
be  almost  unlimited.  Of  syrup  none  was  reported  in  1849,  and  this  is 
an  article  to  which  some  of  the  plantations  are  now  directing  their 
whole  attention,  and  which  is  more  profitable  than  sugar. 

Both  the  increase  of  the  receipts  at  the  Custom-house,  and  the  ex 
traordinary  increase  of  exports,  especially  from  Maui,  are  gratifying 
indications  of  advance  in  resources  and  wealth,  and  they  are  calculated 
to  add  a  new  stimulant  to  the  coffee -growers  and  sugar-planters  of 


THE  HEART  OF  THE  PACIFIC.  315 

the  Islands.  During  the  first  half  of  the  year,  the  demand  for  coffee 
and  sugar  was  so  great,  that  had  the  quantity  on  hand  been  millions 
of  pounds,  it  would  have  found  a  ready  sale,  at  prices  highly  remu 
nerative.  And  such,  we  apprehend,  will  continue  to  be  the  case  in 
future  years.  At  the  present  moment  prices  are  greatly  depressed, 
and  the  market  at  San  Francisco  is  overstocked  with  these  articles ; 
but  this  very  fact  will  withhold  shipments  from  other  countries,  and  the 
present  stock  will  be  reduced,  and  command  a  paying  price.  When 
that  moment  arrives,  and  it  is  sure  to  come,  these  Islands  are  the  nearest 
point  from  whence  the  demand  can  be  supplied,  and,  with  the  speed  of 
stearn  navigation,  Hawaiian  staples  can  be  transported  thither  at  the 
very  moment  they  will  pay  best.  Oregon  is  fast  filling  up,  and  California 
will,  without  a  doubt,  steadily  increase  in  population  for  many  years  to 
come,  though  not  so  rapidly  as  during  the  past  two  years.  Consump 
tion  of  the  staple  products  of  the  Islands  will  keep  pace  with  the  increase 
of  population,  and  those  articles  which  are  peculiar  to  the  tropics  will 
always  be  in  demand  to  the  full  extent  of  the  ability  to  supply.  The 
export  of  vegetables  may  not  increase,  or  even  come  up  to  that  of  the 
year  1850;  but  fruits,  coffee,  sugar,  syrup,  and.  molasses,  there  is  no 
doubt,  will  be  required  in  a  constantly  increasing  ratio,  and  will  com 
mand  a  price  that  will  well  remunerate  the  producers  at  the  Sandwich 
Islands. 

The  following  comparative  view  will  show  how,  in  another  way,  the 
products  of  the  Islands  are  in  increasing  demand. 

Whole  number  of  vessels  that  visited  the  Islands  from  1848-'50 : — 

1848.  1849.  1850. 

Merchant  vessels 90     180     469 

Whalers —     274     237 

Vessels  of  war,  <fec —     13     13 

The  supplies  furnished  to  these  vessels  amounted  in  1849  to  $81,340. 

in  1850  to  140,000. 

Almost  the  whole  of  these  supplies  were  raised  from  the  soil,  and 
consequently  their  value  was  so  much  added  to  the  ability  of  the  people 
to  purchase  the  imports  of  the  merchants,  and  to  increase  their  own 
comfort. 

The  increased  value  of  exports  and  supplies  has,  however,  been  more 
than  equalled  by  the  increase  of  imports.  From  California  and  the 
British  colonies  they  have  more  than  doubled ;  and  the  aggregate  in 
crease  from  all  countries,  for  consumption,  amounts  to  $383,891.61. 

Increase  of  exports  and  supplies 335,238.89. 

Excess  of  imports  ..* 58,652.72. 

The  total  value  of  imports  for  consumption  is...  $1,006,528.98. 

The  total  value  of  exports  and  supplies 536,522.63. 

Excess  of  imports  470,005.35. 


316 


LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 


Of  this  excess  a  considerable  amount  has  been  in  sugar-mills,  and 
agricultural  implements  for"  the  cultivation  of  the  soil,  admitted  duty 
free  by  government.  Another  portion  was  introduced  by  consuls  and 
missions,  for  consumption  and  not  for  sale.  How  has  the  balance  (say 
$400,000)  been  paid  for  I  In  part  by  the  direct  introduction  of  capital 
invested  in  plantations,  <fcc. ;  in  part  by  profits  derived  from  shipments 
abroad  on  island  account ;  and  in  a  great  degree  by  money  put  in  cir 
culation  by  strangers,  returned  Hawaiians,  .captains,  officers,  and  crews 
of  ships,  which  do  not  come  into  the  calculation  of  "  supplies."  There 
may  be  a  small  debt  against  the  Islands  on  account  of  imports,  but  it 
probably  does  not  exceed  the  amount  of  goods  still  remaining  unsold 
in  the  hands  of  importers. 

These  statistics  show  progress,  and  awaken  the  hope  that  the  Hawaiian 
Islands  have  entered  upon  a  course  of  increasing  prosperity,  depending 
almost  wholly  upon  the  development  of  their  agricultural  resources. 
To  this  point  the  most  earnest  attention  should  be  given  by  Govern 
ment  and  the  people  of  the  Islands.  The  great  desideratum  of  a  ready 
market  now  exists  at  their  own  doors ;  and  if  the  demand  is  not  promptly 
met,  it  will  not  be  because  Providence  has  not  furnished  all  the  means 
and  appliances  for  so  important  an  object. 


From  the  Reports  of  Keoni  Ana,  Minister  of  the  Interior,  and  of  Robert 
Crichton  Wyllie,  Minister  of  Foreign  Relations,  we  learn  that  the  number 
of  foreigners  who  have  taken  the  oath  of  allegiance  during  the  year 
1850  is  151,  citizens  of  the  following  countries  : — 


United  States..., 69 

Great  Britain 37 

France 4 

Portugal  5 

Germany 5 

Denmark 2 

Prussia 1 


China 12 

South  America 2 

East  Indies 5 

West  Indies : 4 

Polynesia 4 

Africa 1 


The  amount  of  goods  sold  at  auction  in  the  Hawaiian  Kingdom  during 
the  same  year  was  $1,060,760.38. 

The  amount  received  for  public  licenses  is  $24,145. 

In  real  estate,  the  number  of  royal  patents  granted  during  the  year 
is  314.  • 

To  aliens 25.  To  subjects 319. 

By  the  annexed  tables  can  be  seen  the  number  of  acres  sold  on  each 
island,  and  the  gross  amount  of  their  price. 


THE   HEART   OF  THE   PACIFIC.  31 7 

Islands.                                     Acres.  Amount. 

Oalm 15,161  $19,775.20 

Maui 9,338  17,927.86 

Hawaii 3,196  3,490.68 

Kauai 2,446  2,699.58 

Molokai 1,371 349.00 


Total 31,518     $44,352.32 

The  avails  to  the  Treasury  of  the  Interior  Department,  during  the 
year  1850,  have  been  $84,350.65. 

We  add  to  the  foregoing  exhibition  of  the  commerce 
and  trade  of  the  Sandwich  Islands,  a  tabular  view  also  of 
educational  and  religious  progress  at  the  Heart  of  the 
Pacific. 

During  the  year  ending  May  1,  1850,  851  members  were  received  on 
examination  into  17  of  the  churches  at  these  Islands.  The  number 
admitted  on  examination  to  the  churches  at  Kaanapali,  Waiane,  and 
Waimea,  and  on  Molokai,  is  not  reported.  The  largest  number  added 
to  any  one  church  is  369,  to  the  first  church  in  Honolulu.  This  church 
received,  besides,  106  members  from  other  churches. 

19  of  the  churches  report  a  loss  by  death  of  1277  members;  while  18 
of  these  churches  report  the  baptism  of  only  295  children.  In  connec 
tion  with  17  of  them,  there  were  1354  marriages. 

The  following  list  of  contributions  to  purposes  of  benevolence  shows 
the  amount  given  by  these  churches,  and  the  objects  to  which  it  was 
appropriated.  The  list  is  not  complete,  no  report  having  been  received 
from  five  of  the  churches. 

KAUAI. —  Waioli, . .  Monthly  concert,  for  native  preacher  at  Koloa  $15.00 

Monthly  concert,  for  repairs  of  church 46.50 

For  shingling  of  church -..  173.50 

OAHU. — Kaneohe,  .Objects  not  stated 500.00 

Waialua,  For  French  Protestant  Mission ". 30.86 

For  meeting-houses 293.00 

Honolulu,  2d  ch.,  Monthly  concert 108.69 

For  support  of  pastor  320.00 

Honolulu,  1st  ch.,  Salary  of  pastor 500.00 

Repair  of  houses  for  pastor ...., 500.00 

To  d  native  preacher. *?3.00 

To  Mr.  Thurston,  to  repair  loss  by  fire     25.00 
For  French  .Protestant  Missions 37.00 


318  LIFE  'IN  THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

Honolulu,  1st  ch.,  For  American  Board.... $90.00 

For  meeting-house  in  Kau 30.00 

For  meeting-house  in  Kohala 50.00 

MAUI. — Lahaina, . .  For  support  of  pastor  ....- 562.00 

French  Protestant  Missions 76.00 

American  Board 50.00 

For  church  communion 44.75 

For  meeting-house  on  Lanai 35.00 

For  other  objects 120.00 

For  seraphina,  amount  not  stated 

Molokai,..~For  support  of  pastor 420.00 

For  Kohala  meeting-house 102.00 

Spread  of  the  Gospel  abroad 501.50 

Relief  of  the  poor 40.00 

Wailuku, .  For  American  Board 426.61 

For  French  Protestant  Missions 41.85 

For  repairing  meeting-house 602.00 

liana, ....  For  support  of  pastor  125.00 

HAWAII.— Hilo, . . .  For"  American  Tract  Society 1 00.00 

For  American  Board 607.00 

Waimca, .. Contributions,  objects  not  stated 200.00 

Kailua, . . .  For  support  of  pastor  and  native  assistant ....  208.00 

For  French  Protestant  Missions 30.31 

For  meeting-house  at  Kohala 33.62 

Kau, For  support  of  pastor 93.96 

The  whole  amount  is  $7,213.14,  from  about  18,000  recent  converts 
from  the  lowest  idolatry. 

• 

The  entire  amount  expended  on  the  Sandwich  Islands  for  educational 
purposes  during  the  year  1850,  may  be  estimated  as  follows: — 

On  the  public,  schools ; $25,891.96 

On  select  schools  supported  by  government 1,929.52 

On  select  schools  supported  by  voluntary  efforts...  11,061.00 

Ministers'  salary,  clerk  hire,  stationery,  &c 4,264.11 

$43,146.59 

Supposing  the  population  on  the  1st  of  January,  1851,  to  be  85,000, 
which  is  not  far  from  the  truth,  the  above  amount  would  be  50  cents 
for  every  individual :  or  supposing  the  taxable  male  population  to  be 
15,000,  it  would  amount  to  $2.08  for  each  man,  were  the  whole  amount 
raised  by  taxation.  The  average  annual  cost  of  each  school  has  been 
$47.68.  Average  yearly  wages  of  each  teacher,  $37.99.  Average 
yearly  cost  of  each  scholar,  $1.69. 


THE   HEART   OF  THE    PACIFIC. 


319 


Tabular   View  of  Schools  for  1850, 
Reported  by  Missionaries. 


STATIONS. 


HAWAII,  . 


MAUI,  . 


OAHU,  . 


KAUAI,  . 


Hilo  and  Puna  .... 

Waimea  

Kohala 

Kailua 

Kealakekua  .... 

Kau 

Hana , 

Wailuku 

Lahaina 

Kaanapali....... 

MOLOKAI 

LANAI 

Honolulu  1st 

Honolulu  2d. ... 
E\va  and  Waianae 

Waialua  

Kaneohe  

Waioli 

Koloa 

Waimea  

NIIHAU 


48 
21 

21 
21 
20 
13 
27 
24 
15 
10 
22 
7 

23 
12 
27 
"26 
11 
20 
15 
15 


2091 
841 

1116 
972 
925 
355 

1149 
837 
899 
333 

1016 
184 

1068 
445 
820 
735 
529 
515 
437 
400 
141 


1207 
400 
605 
381 
404 
101 
579 
434 
424 
117 
610 
162 
407 
203 
496 
361 
386 
331 
267 

•221 


860 
285 
260 
100 
202 

45 
317 
377 
282 

69 
273 
104 
248 
108 
312 
247 
287 
170 
135 

68 

47 


1037 
366 
759 
374 
265 
155 
430 
174 
341 
133 
685 
127 
377 
225 
436 
371 
356 
258 
223 
167 
29 


802 
166 
276 
233 
141 
54 
411 
304 
377 
101 
300 
103 
292 
102 
585 
263 
380 
179 
175 
93 
14 


91 

31 

144 

26 

60 

19 

33 

64 

48 

34 

422 

10 

145 

14 

97 

122 

113 


21 


Total.. 388   11,79276554523660350011494 


No.  of  scholars  in  English,  1850 421 


SEMINARIES,  &c. 


is, 

is! 

o 


a 

1 

s 


Royal  school 
Lahainaluna . 

Wailuku 

Hilo 

Waioli... 


11 
64 
35 
62 
48 


23 
4 


2 
14 


12 
14 


Total 220 


27 


45 


29 


320 


LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS! 


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THE   HEART   OF   THE  PACIFIC. 


321 


Late  Census  of  the  Hawaiian  Islands,  from  Official  Documents,  1850. 

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OS  rH  CO  CO  O  <M 
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Schools,  &c. 
Number  of  English  schools  
"  English  scholars  .»  
"  high  schools  
"  high  scholars  
"  primary  and  common  schools  
"  primary  and  common  scholars  

| 

Under  17  years  of 
age  10,773 
Of  17  and  under  30,  6,327 
Of  30  and  under  50,  10,819 
Of  50  and  upward,  8,353 

Total  males  36,272 
Excess  of  mal 
Blind  
Deaf  
Hilo  (not  included)  

Population. 

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Total  aggregate...  

Foreigners. 
Unmarried  
Living  with  foreign  wives  
Children  
Living  with  native  wives  
Half  castes  
Foreigners  in  Hilo  

Total  foreigners  
Natives  

l£ 

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322  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 


HONOLULU   A   COMMERCIAL   DEPOT. 

THE  peculiar  advantages  of  Honolulu,  as  a  depot  for  the  commerce 
of  the  Northern  Pacific,  have  not  received  that  attention  from  commer 
cial  men  which  they  deserve,  and  to  which  their  intrinsic  merits  entitle 
them.  To  some  of  these  we  will  now  allude,  in  the  hope  that  they  may 
arrest  the  attention  of  those  interested  in  the  prosperity  of  this  king 
dom,  and  engaged  in  its  rapidly  extending  commerce. 

In  the  first  place,  we  have  a  safe  and  convenient  harbor,  into  which 
any  number  of  vessels,  ever  likely  to  require  accommodation,  can  enter, 
and  be  perfectly  safe  from  all  casualties  of  wind  and  tempest.  This  is 
a  point  of  great  importance  to  be  known,  as  thereby  the  rate  of  insur 
ance  would  be  reduced,  and  the  anxieties  of  shippers  diminished.  Our 
harbor  is  also  of  easy  access,  and  vessels  are  subjected  to  but  little  de 
lay  in  entering.  Whenever  delays  occur  on  account  of  strong  winds? 
those  winds  blow  off  shore,  and  ships  can  safely  ride  at  their  anchors, 
outside,  until  they  can  come  in.  But  with  a  small  steam-tug  to  tow 
ships  in,  no  delay  whatever  need  occur.  They  could  be  brought  in  in 
any  weather.  The  southerly  gales  that  bring  ships  at  anchor  outside 
upon  a  lee  shore,  blow  directly  in,  and  vessels  can  always  slip  and  run 
in,  even  if  they  cannot  stay  to  get  their  anchors.  Almost  every  wreck 
upon  our  coast,  for  many  years  past,  has  been  of  ships  bound  off,  and 
which  did  not  wish  to  come  inside.  Our  harbor,  therefore,  may  be  con 
sidered  as  safe  as  any  other  in  the  Pacific,  and  furnishes  sufficient  ac 
commodation  for  a  large  fleet.  At  one  time  during  the  last  shipping 
season,  a  hundred  vessels  were  counted,  and  there  was  room  for  more. 

Another  indispensable  requisite,  in  connection  with  tl}e  commercial 
advantages  of  Honolulu,  is  good  and  sufficient  wharfage,  where  ships  of 
the  largest  class  can  come  alongside  and  discharge,  without  the  ex 
pense  and  delay  of  lighters.  This,  we  are  happy  to  say,  is  now  being 
provided  by  the  government,  and  will  soon  furnish  all  that  will  be  re 
quired  for  many  years,  even  should  the  business  of  the  port  increase  in 
a  large  ratio.  The  new  wharves  are  being  constructed  in  a  firm  and 
durable  manner,  and  are  run  out  into  from  ton  to  eighteen  feet  water, 
thus  affording  vessels  of  a  large  class  all  the  advantages  they  need  for 
rapidly  discharging  their  cargoes.  When  these  are  completed — which 
they  will  be  in  a  few  weeks— no  delay  need  occur,  as  has  formerly 
been  the  case,  from  a  want  of  accommodation  at  the  wharves. 

Secure  and  convenient  storage  is  another  advantage  possessed  here, 
of  great  value  to  the  port  as  a  general  depot  for  goods  awaiting  a 
market.  There  are  several  large  and  commodious  warehouses,  owned 
by  the  government  and  by  individuals,  of  easy  access,  and.  convenient 


THE  HEART  OF  THE  PACIFIC.          323 

to  the  wharves,  where  a  large  amount  of  goods  can  be  safely  stored. 
Some  of  these  buildings  are  fire-proof,  and  others  so  nearly  so  as  to 
render  them  quite  safe  from  the  casualties  of  fire.  Should  those  now 
built  be  found  inadequate  to  the  demand,  there  is  abundant  room  for 
the  erection  of  more,  .in  the  near  vicinity  of  the  wharves ;  and  such 
structures  would  be  multiplied  as  rapidly  as  the  demand  increased.  At 
present  there  is  a  large  amount  of  storage  room  unoccupied — sufficient 
for  the  cargoes  of  many  ships,  and  at  rates  far  below  those  of  San 
Francisco,  or  any  other  port  in  the  Northern  Pacific.  Goods  can  also 
be  landed  and  stored  at  this  port  at  a  cheap  rate,  compared  with  the 
ports  on  the  coast,  where  labor  is  so  excessively  high.  We  have  this 
fact  from  a  gentleman,  naw  here  in  commercial  pursuits,  and  who 
is  thoroughly  versed  in  the  details  of  expenses  of  this  kind  on  the 
coast. 

In  view  of  these  facts,  and  with  the  knowledge  that  goods  can  be 
entered  here  for  re-shipment,  subject  only  to  a  transit  duty  of  one  per 
cent.,  the  advantages  of  this  port,  as  a  depot  for  goods  awaiting  a  mar 
ket,  must  appear  quite*  apparent.  If  the  late  decision  of  the  Collector 
of  San  Francisco  is  carried  into  execution,  we  submit  to  consignees 
there,  having  cargoes  upon  their  hands,  whether  it  would  not  be  a 
material  saving  of  expense  to  send  their  ships  here  to  discharge  and 
store  their  goods,  until  a  favorable  moment  arrives  for  effecting  sales. 

We  shall,  without  doubt,  have  a  line  of  steamers  running  between 
the  Islands  and  the  coast  within  a  few  months.  By  this  expeditious 
mode  of  intercourse  goods  could  be  thrown  into  that  market  within  a 
month 'or  six  weeks,  and  merchants  there  would  always*know  the  state 
of  the  demand,  and  the  proper  time  to  have  them  forwarded. 

In  addition  to  the  above  facilities,  vessels  can  get  stone  ballast,  wood, 
and  water,  of  the  very  best  description,  in  any  quantity,  and  so  conve 
nient,  that  casks  can  be  filled  in  a  lighter  or  ship's  boat  from  the  hose, 
as  it  comes  from  the  iron  pipes.  This  water  is  perfectly  soft,  being 
brought  from  a  spring  some  hundreds  of  feet  above  the  sea,  without 
coming  in  contact  with  the  ground. 

We  are  confident  in  the  belief  that  Honolulu  possesses  all  the  advan 
tages  for  a  large  commercial  depot  for  the  North  Pacific,  especially  for 
California  and  Oregon,  which  will,  ere  long,  be  appreciated  and  em 
ployed,  in  preference  to  Valparaiso  6r  any  other  port  in  this  ocean ; 
and  where  assorted  cargoes  for  those  points,  and  for  the  more  northern 
possessions  of  the  Russians,  can  be  made  up  at  the  very  shortest  notice. 
*  ——Polynesian. 

FRENCH   DIFFICULTIES    AT   THE   SANDWICH  •  ISLANDS. 

THE  principal  demands  of  France  were,  1.  That  a  portion  of  the 
money  raised  by  the  government  for  the  Support  of  schools  shall  be 


324:  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

placed  in  the  hands  of  a  few  Catholic  priests  who  reside  there.  This 
money  is  now  collected  and  expended  by  an  officer  of  the  government, 
called  the  Minister  of  Public  Instruction,  and  schools  are  thus  provided 
for  nearly  or  quite  all  the  children  on  the  Islands.  2.  That  the  price 
of  licenses  for  retailing  French  brandy  shall  be  regulated  by  France. 
The  object  is  to  take  away  all  power  of  the  government  from  restrain 
ing  those  habits  of  intoxication  among  the  people,  which  were  once  al 
most  universal,  but  are  now  very  extensively  abandoned,  and  thus  make 
an  increased  sale  for  brandy. 

It  will  be  recollected  that  Dillon  with  his  frigate  did  not  succeed  in 
enforcing  these  demands.  After  failing  to  persuade  the  government  to 
yield  to  them,  he  went  on  shore  with  a  body  of  armed  troops,  paraded 
through  the  streets  of  Honolulu,  went  to  the  fort,  hoisted  the  French 
flag,  sent  for  the  Governor  and  demanded  the  surrender  of  his  soldiers. 
The  noble  Islander,  in  a  calm  and  dignified  manner,  replied,  "  I  HAVE  NO 
SOLDIERS."  Dillon's  troops  then  went  to  work  to  do  what  injury  they 
could  to  the  public  property,  by  turning  over  the  small  out-buildings, 
cutting  down  trees,  and  making  obscene  pictures,  and  writing  obscene 
words  on  the  walls  of  the  fort ;  and,  after  other  proceedings  of  a  similar 
character,  and  destroying  property  to  the  amount  of  $100,000,  retired 
on  board  their  vessel.  They  soon  left  for  California,  and,  upon  their 
own  account  of  their  proceeding,  the  California  papers  spoke  of  them 
as  pirates ;  and  their  proceedings  were  undoubtedly  nothing  better  than 
piratical. 

The  Grand  Nation  has  now  sent  out  Perrin  to  reassert  their  claims ; 
an  -1,  as  the  government  has  no  military  force,  he  gave  them  a  limited 
time  to  save  the  town  from  destruction  by  compliance.  In  this  ex 
tremity,  the  government  has  proposed  to  Mr.  Severance,  the  American 
Commissioner,  as  it  is  understood,  to  yield  the  sovereignty  of  the  Isl 
ands  to  the  United  States,  and  place  themselves  under  the  protection 
of  the  Stars  and  Stripes,  It  is  also  understood  that  he-  has  accepted 
the  offer  provisionally,  to  await  the  action  of  our  government.  The 
Vandalia,  one  of  our  ships  of  war,  is  there.  It  is  said,  that  not  only  Mr. 
Severance  and  Mr.  Allen,  our  Consul,  and  the  commanding  officer  of  the 
Vandalia,  but  Gen.  Miller,  the  British  Consul,  and  all  the  respectable 
foreign  residents,  justify  the  position  of  the  Hawaiian  government,  and 
condemn  the  proceedings  of  Perrir*  And  this  brutal  exercise  of  power  over 
a  defenceless  people  just  emerged  from  barbarism,  is  disgracing  France  in 
the  eyes  of  the  civilized  world.  It  is  really  a  dastardly  business. 

France  has  no  important  interests  at  the  Island. '  There  are  scarcely  a* 
dozen  French  residents  there.  The  American  interests,  on  the  con 
trary,  are  of  very  great  and  growing  importance.  Several  thousand 
Americans  reside  on  the  Islands,  many  of  whom  are  owners  of  large 
tracts  of  land,  and  are  engaged  in  agriculture.  There  is  always  a  great 
amount  of  American  shipjpig  in  their  ports.  It  often  amounts  to  mil- 


THE  HEART  OF  THE  PACIFIC.          325 

lions  of  dollars  in  value.  Eighty  ships  are  no  uncommon  sight  in  the 
harbor  of  Honolulu,  mostly  of  a  very  large  class.  The  connection  with 
Oregon  and  California  is  constant,  and  there  is  a  regular  mail  between 
Honolulu  and  the  United  States.  At  the  present  rate  of  increase,  a 
large  proportion  of  the  inhabitants  will  soon  be  Americans.  It  is  to  be 
hoped  that  our  government  will  protect  these  interests  of  our  citizens 
against  France,  and  assume  a  decided  tone  against  any  attempts  on  the 
part  of  the  French  government  to  interfere  with  the  independence  of 
the  Island.  If  the  Islands  must  be  annexed  to  this  country  to  protect 
them  against  French  piracy,  it  will  be  a  righteous  annexation.  The 
people  of  Honolulu,  both  foreign  and  native,  are  extremely  desirous  of 
living  under  a  flag  which  the  French  will  not  dare  to  insult. 

It  is  understood  that  an  Agent  of  the  Government  of  the  Sandwich 
Islands  is  now  at  Washington,  with  full  power  to  negotiate  important 
changes  in  the  relations  between  the  Islands  and  the  United  States. 
He  is  the  bearer  of  two  propositions :  one,  for  the  establishment  of  an 
American  Protectorate  over  the  Islands,  their  government  and  internal 
organization  remaining  as  now ;  the  other,  for  the  abdication  of  the  king, 
the  complete  resignation  of  the  authority  into  the  hands  of  the  people 
under  suitable  republican  forms,  and  the  definite  annexation  of  fhe 
Islands  to  this  Republic.  These  propositions  are  submitted  to  our 
Government  for  its  choice  and  acceptance,  with  an  earnest  request  from 
the  king  and  all  his  ministers  that  one  or  the  other  of  them  may  be 
promptly  embraced  and  acted  upon.  This  step,  we  have  reason  to 
believe,  has  not  been  taken  without  deliberation  and  perfect  conviction 
that  it  is  both  necessary  and  timely.  ' 

To  take  the  Islands  under  the  protection  of  the  United  States  would 
be  of  little,  if  any,  advantage  to  either  of  the  two  parties.  Our  protec 
tion  could  hardly  be  rendered  efficacious  in  a  country  where  our  right 
to  exercise  it  might  be  denied,  while  it  might  entangle  us  in  unpleasant 
difficulties  with  other  nations. 

In  our  view,  the  only  question  to  be  entertained  is  that  of  annexation. 
As  a  territory  of  the  United  States,  the  Islands  would  be  exempt  from 
foreign  interference,  and  the  authority  of  our  flag  and  the  force  of  our 
laws  would  not  be  disputed..  To  the  inhabitants  and  future  settlers, 
annexation  would  be  a  blessing.  It  would  insure  tranquillity,  order, 
and  a  more  active  development  of  the  rich  natural  resources  of  the 
country.  Of  its  present  white  population,  by  far  the  greater  and  pre 
dominantly  influential  part  are  Americans,  who  long  once  more  to  live 
under  the  stars  and  stripes.  Its  civilization  and  its'  commerce  are 
American ;  its  laws  and  government  are,  already,  to  a  great  extent,  mod 
elled  upon  ours.  And  as  the  trade  of  the  Pacific  is  developed,  the 
value  of  the  Islands  will  increase,  not  only  to  ourselves,  but  to  other 
nations. — American  newspaper. 


326  LIFE   E$r   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

THE  following  is  a  copy  of  the  Rules  of  Conference 
finally  agreed  upon  between  the  Commissioner  of  the 
French  Republic  and  the  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs 
of  the  Hawaiian  Kingdom,  at  Honolulu,  the  10th  of 
January,  1851.  Appended'  are  the  most  important 
Diplomatic  Notes  and  Protocols  that  passed  between 
the  parties  while  negotiations  were  pending,  and  the 
final  Declaration  to  which  they  arrived. 

KULES    OF   DIPLOMATIC    CONFERENCES. 

THE  undersigned  Negotiators  of  the  Treaty,  concluded  on  the  26th  of 
March,  1846,  between  France  and  the  Hawaiian  Islands,  chosen  by  the 
President  of  the  French  Republic  and  the  King  of  the  Sandwich  Isl 
ands,  to  put  an  end  to  the  much  regretted  differences  that  have  super 
vened  between  the  two  countries,  and  to  arrest  in  their  source  all 
causes  of  ulterior  difficulties ;  after  having  each — in  four  dispatches, 
which  have  recently  been  exchanged — restored  to  the  political  relations 
of  the  two  countries  the  character  of  mutual  confidence  and  honorable 
loyalty  which  they  had  sought  to  establish,  have  agreed  to  subject 
themselves  to  the  following  preliminary  articles,  in  the  conduct  of  the 
Diplomatic  Conferences,  rendered  necessary  by  the  negotiation  with 
which  they  are  charged : — 

ARTICLE  I. 

With  the  view  of  recording  the  results  obtained  during  the  course  of 
the  negotiations,  it  is  agreed  that  Protocols  of  each  sitting  shall  be  pre 
pared,  successively,  during  the  discussions,  to  be  read  and  signed  by  the 
two  Commissioners,  at  the  opening  of  the  following  sitting. 

The  order  of  signatures  shall  be  the  same  as  that  adopted  by  the  un 
dersigned,  at  the  conclusion  of  the  Treaty  of  26th  March,  1846. 


For  the  success  of  the  negotiation  itself,  *and  in  order  that  each  Com 
missioner  may  be  able  to  perform' his  other  important  duties,  each  Con 
ference  shall  last  only  from  eleven  in  the  morning  to  two  in  the  after 
noon  ;  to  be  resumed  at  the  same  hour,  on  such  other  day  as  it  may 
please  the  two  negotiators  to  fix,  before  they  separate. 

ARTICLE  III. 

The  Hawaiian  language  not  being  understood  by  either  of  the  two 
undersigned,  it  is  agreed  that,  for  the  drawing  up  of  the  Protocols,  only, 
the  English  and  French  languages  shall  be  used,  "exclusively. 


THE  HEAKT  OF  THE  PACIFIC.  327 


ARTICLE  IV. 

The  two  Commissioners  shall  only  propose  to  themselves  to  seek  for 
the  true  interests  of  their  respective  nations ;  observing  all  the  respect 
due  to  nations  very  unequal  in  force,  though  perfectly  equal  in  regarH 
to  sovereignty  and  independence ;  it  has  been  agreed  that,  with  this 
object,  the  two  negotiators  shall  judge  of  the  facts,  in  themselves,  with 
calm  loyalty  and  impartiality,  and  that  they  shall,  reciprocally,  demand 
nothing  which  they  would  not  be  ready  to  grant,  in  turn,  in  analogous 
circumstances. 

ARTICLE  V. 

To  secure  this  desirable  result,  which  is  altogether  indispensable  to 
the  dignity  and  honor  of  the  .two  States,  the  two  negotiators,  in  their 
conferences,  shall  divest  themselves  of  all  prejudices  and  passion,  and 
will  carry  their  investigations  back  to  the  visit  to  this  Archipelago, 
made  in  1837,  by  Vice-admiral  Du  Petit  Thouars. 

ARTICLE  VI. 

The  undersigned  shall  endeavor  to  guard  themselves  against  every 
source  of  error,  and,  so  far  as  their  personal  influence  may  permit,  to 
dispose  their  respective  governments  to  renounce  every  idea,  or  every 
demand  which  shall  appear  to  them  not  sufficiently  established. 

ARTICLE  VII. 

With  the  view  of  preventing  all  surprise,  and  for  the  sake  of  a  politi 
cal  liberty  of  great  propriety,  it  has  been  decided  that  the  points,  suc 
cessively  agreed  upon  in  the  discussion,  shall  not  be  definitively  obtain 
ed,  till  after  the  whole  discussion  has  been  closed. 

ARTICLE  VIII. 

To  do  homage  to  truth,  and  record  an  historical  fact,  the  two  negotia 
tors  have  solemnly  recognized  that,  in  the  eyes  of  the  two  contracting 
parties,  the  Treaty  of  the  26th  of  March,  1846,  has  been,  hitherto,  main 
tained  in  its  integrity. 

ARTICLE  IX. 

All  the  documents  that  may  be  examined  shall  be  numbered  and 
marked  by  the  initials  of  the  two  Commissioners. 

ARTICLE  x. 

The  discussion  shall  be  pursued  and  terminated  in  conformity  with 
the  general  principles  of  the  laws  of  nations,  and  the  diplomatic  usages 
of  the  great  powers. 

ARTICLE  XI. 

It  has  also  been  agreed  that  if — impossible  though  it  seem  to  be — 
the  government  of  the  French  Republic  should  admit  the  mediation  of 
a  third  power,  for  the  adjustment  of  the  difficulties  confided  to  the  un- 


328  LIFE    IN   THE   SANDWICH    ISLANDS. 

dersigned,  before  the  latter  have  completed  their  task,  the  two  negotia 
tors,  undersigned,  shall  each  conform  to  the  decision  which  shall  have 
been  agreed  upon,  between  France  and  the  mediating  Power,  in  such 
|in  event. 

ARTICLE  xn. 

The  result  of  the  negotiations,  recorded  in  the  Protocols,  shall  be  em 
bodied  in  a  Declaration,  signed  by  the  two  Commissioners  in  the  name  . 
of  their  respective  governments,  in  a  place  which  shall  be  hereafter 
agreed  upon :  That  signature  shall  be  followed  by  a  salute  exchanged 
between  the  shore  Und  the  Serieuse  :  That  final  Act  shall  be  drawn  up 
in  French  and  Hawaiian,  with  a  translation  in  the  English  language  ; 
and  as  it  shall  not  be  considered  in  the  light  of  a  new  Convention,  but 
simply  an  Act  interpreting  the  existing  Convention,  and  designed  to  in 
sure  its  execution,  there  will  be  no  occasion  for  ratification  on  the  part 
of  any  of  the  governments  of  the  two  contracting  parties. 

Done  in  duplicate,  in  Honolulu",  this  10th  day  of  January,  1851. 

R.  C.  WYLLIE, 

Minister  of  Foreign  Relations. 
Le  Cdmmissaire  de  la  Republique  Francaise, 

EM.  PERRIN. 

PROTOCOL. 

SATURDAY,  I5t?i  March,  1851. 

Mr.  Wyllie  alleging  reasons  of  State,  asked  M.  Perrin's  permission  to 
give  Trim  a  perusal  of  the  instructions  framed  in  April  and  September 
1849,  for  Mr.  Jarves  and  Mr.  Judd,  during  their  mission  to  the  govern 
ments  of  France,  Great  Britain,  and  the  United  States,  and  accordingly 
gave  a  reading  of  each  of  these  documents. 

M.  Perrin,  in  his  turn,  read  a  " verbal  note"  dated  this  day,  serving 
as  a  reply  to  his  memorandum  on  Schools,  to  the  notes  and  historical 
memorandum  latterly  addressed  by  the  Minister,  Mr.  Wyllie,  after 
having  denied  some  of  the  consequences  deduced  by  M.  Perrin,  as  con 
trary  both  to  the  object  of  these  writings  and  to  his  own  intentions, 
asked  a  copy  of  the  note  to  reply  to  it,  if  it  was  to  have  any  official  force 
against  the  Hawaiian  government ;  M.  Perrin  answered  that  his  desire 
was  not  to  delay  too  much  the  entering  upon  the  draft  of  the  final  note ; 
he  did  not  think  it  proper  at  present  to  leave  a  copy  of  that  which  he 
had  read. 

Mr.  Wyllie  then  communicated  to  M.  Perrin  the  explanation  fur 
nished  in  the  name  of  the  Hawaiian  government,  upon  all  the  demands 
of  France  presented  by  her  special  Commissioner. 

R.  C.  WYLLIE, 

Minister  of  Foreign  Relations. 
Le  Comraissaire  de  la  Republique  Francaise, 
EM.  PERRIN. 


THE  HEART  OF  THE  PACIFIC.  329 

The  following  are  the  explanations  referred  to,  and  the  Demands  of 
the  French  Republic  to  which  they  apply,  presented  by  M.  Perrin,  at 
the  conference  of  1st  February,  1851. 

Demands  to  which  the  Government  of  the  French  Republic  thinks  that 
satisfaction  ought  to  be  made,  before  the  re-establishment  of  Diplomatic 
Relations  can  take  place  with  that  of  the  Hawaiian  Islands. 

1.  The  adoption  complete,  entire,  and  loyal,  of  the  Treaty  of  the  26th 
March,  1846,  as  it  was  drafted  in  the  French  Text. 

2.  The  establishment  of  a  duty  from  1  to  2  dollars  a  gallon,  of  5 
bottles  on  spirits,  containing  less  than  55  per  cent,  of  alcohol. 

3.  A  treatment  rigorously  equal,  granted  to  the  two  worships,  Catho 
lic  and  Protestant. 

The  direction  of  instruction  confided  to  two  Superior  Committees 
formed  in  each  of  the  two  religions. 

The  submission  of  the  Catholic  Schools  to  Catholic  Inspectors. 

The  proportional  division  between  the  two  religions  of  the  Tax  raised 
by  the  Hawaiian  Government  for  the  support  of  Schools. 

4.  The  adoption  of  the  French  language,  in  the  relations  between 
French  Citizens  and  the  Hawaiian  Administration. 

5.  The  withdrawal  of  the  exception  imposed  upon  French  whalers, 
importing  wines  and  spirits,  and  the  abrogation  of  the  regulation  which  • 
obliges  ships  laden  with  liquors  to  pay,  and  support  the  Custom-house 
guard,  put  on  board  to  watch  over  their  shipment  or  discharge. 

Large  facilitielpff  deposit,  of  transit,  and  of  transhipment  granted  to 
the  trade  in  spirrW 

6.  The  reimbursement  of  all  the  duties  received  in  virtue  of  the 
disposition,  the  withdrawal  of  which  is  demanded  by  the  paragraph 
above  mentioned ;  or  a  proportional  indemnity  given  for  the  damage 
occasioned  to  French  commerce,  by  the  restriction  which  has  suspended 
its  relations. 

7.  The  reimbursement  of  the  fine  of  25  dollars,  paid  by  the  French 
ship  General  Teste,  and  besides  an  indemnity  of  60  dollars  for  the  time 
during  which  she  was  unjustly  detained  here. 

8.  The  insertion  in  the  official  journal  of  the  Hawaiian  Government,  of 
the  punishment  inflicted  upon  the  scholars  of  the  high-school,  whose  im 
pious  conduct  occasioned  the  complaints  of  the  Abbe  Coulon. 

9.  The  removal  of  the  governor,  who  caused  or  allowed  to  be  violated 
on  Hawaii,  the  domicil  of  the  Abbe  Marechal,  or  the  order  to  that  gov 
ernor  to  make  reparation  to  that  missionary,  the  one  or  the  other  de 
cision  to  be  inserted  in  the  official  journal. 

10.  The  payment  to  a  French  citizen,  proprietor  of  the  Hotel  of 
France,  of  the  damages  committed  in  his  house  by  foreign  sailors,  against 
whom  the  Hawaiian  Government  took  no  process. 

•    The  Commissioner  of  the  French  Republic, 

(Signed,)  EM.  PERRIK 

Honolulu,  1st  February,  1851. 


330  LIFE   IN  THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 


REPLIES  BY  MK.  WYLLIE. 

On  behalf  of  the  Hawaiian  Government,  to  the  demands  of  the  French, 
presented  by  M.  Perrin,  on  the  1st  February,  1851,  to  enable  him  to 
satisfy  himself  and  the  French  government,  upon  all  points. 

1.  The  adoption  complete,  entire,  and  loyal,  of  the  Treaty  of  the  26th 
March,  1846,  as  it  was  drafted  in  the  French  Text,  and  signed  in  the 
Hawaiian  and  French  languages,  and  in  all  cases  before  the  foreign 
judges  who  do  not  understand  French,  the  text  of  the  British  Treaty 
declarejl  by  M.  Guizot,  to  have  been  drawn  up,  in  the  same  terms  with 
the  French,  nnd  so  declared  by  M.  Perrin  himself  at  the  conference  of 
the  26th  March,  1846,  to  be  held  as  a  translation  of  the  French  Text, 
the  correctness  of  which  is  not  to  be  disputed. 

2.  The  Hawaiian  Government  do  not  admit  that  in  the  duty  of  $5 
per  gallon,  on  spirits,  they  have  gone  beyond  the  power,  conveyed  to 
them  exclusively  by  France  herself  in  the  words  used  by  her  in  the  VI. 
article  of  the  said  Treaty ;  they  have  shown  that  the  effect  of  that  duty 
has  been  beneficial  to  France,  in  an  eminent  degree,  while  it  has  been 

"injurious  to  the  trade  in  British  and  American  spirits ;  bat  they  are 
willing  to  submit  the  question  of  a  reduction  to  $2  per  gallon  to  the 
approaching  Legislature,  as  a  measure  of  political  economy,  and  upon 
moral  grounds  recommended  by  the  Chamber  «f  Cocffllerce. 

3.  The  King's  Government  cannot  admit  the  right  ofany  foreign  nation 
to  dictate  to  them,  or  prescribe  laws  on  matters  affecting  only  the  re 
ligious  belief  and  secular  education  of  the  King's  native  subjects.     But 
they  are  willing  to  receive  the  demands  of  M.  Perrin,  under  the  3d 
article,  in  the  light  of  friendly  suggestions  for  the  consideration  of  the 
Legislature,  so  far  as  the  already  perfect  equality  of  Catholics  and 
Protestants,  under  the.  Constitution  and  Laws,  of  which  abundant  proof 
has  already  been  given,  may  leave  any  thing  to  be  provided  for. 

4.  Documents  presented  by  French  citizens  in  their  own  language 
shall  be  received  in  all  cases  where  documents  in  English  are  received, 
but  in  cases  where  the  officer  whose  duty  it  is  to  act  upon  'them  does 
not  understand  the  French,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  applicant  to  fur 
nish  a  translation  of  his  document,  which,  to  prevent  dispute  or  error  of 
judgment,  shall  be  by  him  authenticated,  under  the  signature  and  seal 
of  the  Consul  of  France. 

5.'  The  King's  Government  would  gladly  withdraw  any  exception  to 
French  whalers,  if  any  such  existed,  but  it  has  been  already  shown  that 
no  such  exception  ever  existed.  French  whalers  are  entirely  upon  the 
same  footing  in  all  respects  as  the  whalers  of  any  other  foreign  nation. 
France  cannot  claim  more,  in  accordance  with  the  Treaty  of  26th  March, 
1846,  and  the  King  cannot  grant  more  to  France,  in  conformity  with  his 


THE  HEART  OF  THE  PACIFIC.          331 

treaties  with  other  powers.  The  same  remark  applies  to  the  Custom 
house  regulations  respecting  the*  payment  of  a  guard  on  board,  deposit, 
transit,  and  transhipment  of  spirits. 

6.  No  reimbursement  or  indemnity  can  be  given  where  no  wrong  has 
been  done.     To  admit  the  contrary  would  imply  a  violation  of  the 
Treaty,  which  the  King's  Government  are  justified  by  all  concurrent 
opinion,  and  by  the  clear  and  natural  wording  of  the  Treaty,  in  denying. 
France  cannot  insist  that  this  government  should  affix  upon  itself  a  stain, 
which  in  its  own  opinion  and  that  of  the  world  it  does  not  deserve. 

7.  The  King's  Government  would  annihilate  their  right  to  claim  of 
foreign  ships  the  observance  of  their  Port  Regulations,  if  they  were  to 
return  the  fine  of  $25  imposed  on  the  ship  General  Teste ;  or  allow  $60 
for  a  delay  in  port,  for  which  the  captain  alone  was  to  blame.     All  that 
was  shown  clearly  to  M.  Dillon,  in  Mr.  Wyllie's  dispatch  No.  53,  of  25th 
November,  1 848,  published  at  page  41  of  the  published  correspondence 
with  that  gentleman.     The  King's  Government  always  considered,  and 
consider  still,  that  they  deserve  thanks  for  having  reduced  the  fine,  le 
gally  incurred  by  the  General  Teste,  from  $500  to  $25.     The  law" which 
the  captain  of  the  General  Teste  had  violated  is  quoted  at  page  44  of 
that  correspondence. 

8.  All  that  M.  Dillon  asked  for  on  the  16th  April,  1849,  with  reference 
to  the  complaint  of  the  Abbe  Coulon,  was  to  be  informed  what  measures, 
would  be  taken  to  prevent  such  acts  as  he  had  complained  of.     That 
was  all  that  the  Rev.  Abbe,  who,  with  a  moderation  worthy  of  his  cleri 
cal  character,  had  declined  appearing  before  the  native  judge,  had  re 
quired  him  to  do.    Mr.  Wyllie  courteously  received  M.  Dillon's  dispatch, 
and  referred  the  complaint  to  the  King's  Minister  of  Public  Instruction, 
as  will  be  seen  by  referring  to  Mr.  Wyllie's  note  No.  34,  of  19th  April, 
1849,  page  317,  of  the  same  correspondence,  and  that  Minister,  after  ex 
plaining  the  case,  replied,  as  will  be  seen  at  page  360,  that  should  like 
cases  occur  in  future,  on  being  duly  informed  it  will  be  his  duty  to  give 
notice  to  the  proper  officer,  that  he  might  proceed  against  the  offenders 
according  to  law.     It  is  understood  the  native1  judge  before  whom  the 
boys  were  carried  dismissed  the  case,  on  the  ground  of  want  of  proof. 
If  the  Rev.  Abbe  had  made  his  complaint  to  the  Minister  of  Public  In 
struction,  either  directly  or  through  his  bishop,  (which  would  have  been 
preferable,)  on  proof  of  their  delinquency,  the  boys  would  have  been 
punished  severely,  under  the  law,  section  VI.,  chapter  VI,  part  IV., 
second  Act  of  Kamehameha  III. ;   and  if  the  judge  had  neglected  his 
duty,  he  would  have  been  liable  to  the  punishment  provided  for  in  the 
law  of  31st  May,  1841,  page  89  of  the  old  laws.    The  King's  Government 
do  not  encourage  sacrilege  of  any  kind ;  the  law  amply  provides  for  its 
punishment,  and  if  the  Bishop  will  instruct  his  clergy  in  all  such  case? 
to  prefer  a  written  complaint  to  the  Minister  of  Public  Instruction,  H 
will  be  his  duty  to  see  the  law  rigidly  enforced  against  proved  delin- 


332  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

quents.     It  is  not  believed  that  the  offence  complained  of  has  since  been 
repeated  anywhere  on  the  Islands. 

9.  The  facts  stated  by  his  Excellency,  the  Governor  of  Hawaii,  pub 
lished  at  page  59  oi  the  official  correspondence  with  Admiral  de  Trome- 
lin,  make  it  appear  that  the  Abbe  Marechal  either  screened  or  caused 
to  be  screened,  in  his  domicil,  a  fugitive  from  justice.     By  referring  to 
Mr.  Wyllie's  dispatch  of  the  24th  August,  1849,  published  at  page  67 
of  the  same  correspondence,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  King's  Government 
had  no  intelligence  of  such  a  complaint  till  it  had  been  magnified  very 
irregularly  with  a  formal  international  demand.     It  will  not  be  con 
tended  that  on  the  mere  complaint  of  a  Catholic  priest  to  a  French 
Consul  (in  itself  a  contempt  of  -the  magistracy  of  the  country)  there 
should  be  a  just  cause  why  the  Governor  of  the  largest  island  of  the 
kingdom  should  be  dismissed  without  a  hearing.     That  would  indeed 
be  a  strange  doctrine  under  the  laws  of  nations,  and  a  singular  inter 
pretation  of  the  2d  article  of  the  Treaty  of  the  26th  March,  1846.    Pro 
cess  at  law  against  the  Governor,  before   the  King's  chief-justice,  was 
offered  to  M.  Dillon,  and  even  a  free  passage  to  Hawaii  in  the  King's 
yacht,  that  he  might  witness  the  fairness  of  the  proceedings.     M.  Dillon 
did  not  accept  the  offer,  but  the  courts  of  the  country  are  still  open  to 
the  Rev.  Abbe  if  he  wish  to  prosecute. 

10.  The  receipt  of  Victor  Chancerel  for  $93.50,  is  in  the  archives 
of  the  Foreign  Office.     It  rests  upon  the  authority  of  British  officers 
that  Victor's   original  bill   for  damages  was  only  for  $8,   (see   page 
53  of  the  same  correspondence,)  so  that  the  claim  of  Chancerel  was 
paid  more  than  ten  times  over,  on  the  30th  of  August,  1849,  a  fact  with 
many  others,  which  General  Lahitte  could  not  possibly  have  known 
when  he  placed  the  ten  demands  of  France  in  the  hands  of  M.  Perrin. 

The  King's  Government  invite  the  Government  of  France  to  adopt 
the  same  Treaty,  mutatis  mutandis,  as  that  lately  formed  with  the 
United  States,  or  to  consider  the  present  Treaty  at  an  end  in  12  months 
from  this  date,  and  in  the  mean  while  to  form  a  new  Treaty  free  from 
the  objections  and  ambiguities  of  the  old. 

The  King's  Government  consider  that  France  is  specially  bound  to 
remove  all  the  restrictions  imposed  on  the  King,  in  the  3d  and  6th  ar 
ticles  of  the  Treaty  of  26th  March  1846,  both  because  he  was  deprived 
of  his  rightful  prerogatives  of  sovereignty  by  a  French  officer,  under  a 
threat  of  instant  war,  and  because  the  Government  consented  to  the 
reduction  of  the  duties  on  wines,  on  the  condition  of  the  removal  of 
those  restrictions  to  which  M.  Dillon  repeatedly  pledged  himself  with 
emphatic  promises  of  his  best  endeavors. 

The  King's  Government  desire  a  mutual  accord  between  France, 
Great  Britain,  and  the  United  States,  so  as  to  render  their  treaties 
uniform  on  these  Islands,  to  provide  for  a  settlement  of  all  disputes 
arising  under  them  by  amicable  reference,  to  respect  the  King's  neu 


THE  HEART  OF  THE  PACIFIC.  333 

trality  in  all  wars  one  with  another,  and  to  adopt  one  common  rule,  in 
regard  to  the  duties  and  conduct  of  their  political  agents,  towards  the 
King's  Administration,  so  as  to  relieve  it  4rom  an  oppressive  and  vexa 
tious  interference,  depriving  the  King's  officers  of  all  time  to  attend  to 
the  internal  interests  of  the  country.  If  things  are  to  continue  as  they 
have  been,  the  Government  of  the  country  as  an  independent  state  is 
an  impracticability. 

R.  0.  WYLLIE. 
Foreign  Office,  15th  March,  1851. 

PROTOCOL  of  Tuesday,  18th  March,  1851. 

The  undersigned  met  at  the  usual  hour ;  the  Commissioner  of  the 
French  Republic  returned  the  draft  of  explanations  on  each  of  his  ten 
demands,  which  he  had  received  from  Mr.  Wyllie,  and  at  the  same  time 
delivered  to  him  a  draft  of  the  final  note  drawn  up  by  him  and  contain 
ing  the  whole  of  the  solutions  given  to  the  demands  above  mentioned. 
After  having  read  that  document,  Mr.  Wyllie  declared  that  he  refused 
to  admit  its  tenor,  because  it  exacted  of  the  King  what,  in  his  eyes, 
could  not  be  demanded  of  him,  either  by  right  of  the  laws  of  nations, 
or  in  virtue  of  the  existing  treaty  with  France  ;  adding,  however,  that 
he  would  translate  the  "draft  as  received,  and  would  try  its  lawfulness 
by  comparisons  with  the  text  of  the  Laws  of  Nations,  and  would  pro 
duce,  in  the  name  of  the  Hawaiian  Government,  a  commentary  on  each 
of  the  articles  of  the  treaty,  showing  that  that  Convention  had  been 
faithfully  executed,  in  every  .part,  to  this  very  day. 

JM.  Perrin  refused  to  enter  upon  such  a  course,  asserting  that  at  the 
point  to  which  the  negotiation  had  arrived,  such  a  proposal  was  inad 
missible. 

Mr.  Wyllie  then  said  that  he  could  not  think  the  desire  of  M.  Perrin 
was  to  render  the  Government  of  the  King  impracticable,  and  to  pro 
voke  a  crisis  disastrous  to  his  independence  and  for  the  future  interests 
of  the  commerce  and  shipping  of  France  in  the  Northern  Pacific  Ocean. 
He  suggested,  in  consequence,  a  solution  of  all  the  questions,  honorable 
in  his  view  for  France,  acceptable  and  beneficial  to  the  King. 

M.  Perrin  declared  that  he  would  consider  all  these  projects,  in  view 
of  the  graveness  of  circumstances. 

Mr.  Wyllie  asked  permission  to  add,  on  the  subject  of  a  suggestion 
contained  in  the  project  of  M.  Perrin,  and  relative  to  a  national  salute 
to  be  given  by  the  Hawaiian  Fort  to  France,  at  the  moment  when  the 
French  Consular  Flag  should  be  again  raised,  that  M.  Dillon  had  vol 
untarily  hauled  down  his  flag,  in  spite  of  the  protest  of  the  Hawaiian 
Government,  and  that  he  could  notify  to  M.  Perrin,  officially,  with  the 
full  authority  of  the  King,  as  he  now  did,  that  the  Government  of  Ka- 
mehameha  III.  would  never  accept  one  dollar  of  indemnity  from  France, 
for  the  damages  occasioned,  and  for  the  royal  yacht  taken  away,  unless 
a  clear  expression  of  regret  for  such  injuries,  and  a  salute  in  honor  of  the 


334  LIFE   IN  THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

King  as  sovereign,  whose  authority  had  been  usurped  in  his  own  do 
minions,  should  first  be  granted. 

M.  Perrin  expressed  his  regret  on  Jbeing  so  late  informed  of  an  opinion 
entirely  contrary  to  the  views  of  the  French  Government ;  he  brought 
to  mind  that  often  already  he  had  officially  and  verbally  announced 
that  the  object  of  his  mission  was  not  to  come  and  give  satisfaction  to  a 
Government,  although  he  came,  on  the  contrary,  to  demand  it  with  all 
the  moderation  which  became  the  power  of  the  French  Republic,  adding 
that  that  declaration  had  never  provoked  the  least  observation  on  the 
parfc  of  Mr.  Wyllie.  The  Minister  then  said  that  that  Resolution  had 
only  recently  been  taken  in  Council. 

Mr.  Wyllie  besides  declared  that  if  this  point  of  etiquette,  in  the 
opinion  of  M.  Perrin,  should  prevent  the  re-establishment  of  diplomatic 
relations  with  France,  she  would  lose  nothing  by  it ;  that  her  interests 
in  this  Archipelago  would  not  suffer,  because  he  believed  that  the  King 
would  not  the  less  continue  to  treat  the  French  and  their  interests  on 
the  footing  of  the  most  favored  nation. 

The  Undersigned  adjourned  until  to-morrow  at  11  A.  M. 

R.  C.  WYLLIE, 

Minister  of  Foreign*  Relations. 
Le  Commissaire  de  la  Republique  Francaise, 
.     EM.  PERRIN. 

PROTOCOL  of  Wednesday,  l$th  March,  1851. 

The  undersigned  met  at  the  usual  hour. 

After  having  compared  together  the  two  drafts  of  declaration  pro 
posed  by  Mr.  Wyllie,  and  that  which  he  himself  had  brought  the  day 
before,  the  Commissioner  of  the  French  Republic  offered  to  Mr.  Wyllie 
to  accept,  in  the  name  of  France,  four  of  the  solutions  which  the  Min 
ister  had  indicated  in  his  draft  of  the  15th  instant,  reserving  to  himself 
to  ask  new  instructions  from  his  Government  in  regard  to  the  solutions 
offered  on  the  other  points  of  his  note  of  the  1st  February  last,  before 
proceeding  further. 

This  proposal  having  been  agreed  to,  the  Minister  said  that  he  would 
submit  the  drafts  of  Declaration  to  the  King  in  Cabinet,  and  then  in 
Privy  Council ;  and  to  allow  time  for  that  consultation  and  deliberation, 
the  undersigned  agreed  to  postpone  their  next  meeting  until  Saturday 
the  22d  instant. 

M.  Perrin  added  that  in  a  note  to  be  dated  this  day  he  would  define 
the  character  in  whicH  he  would  remain,  until  his  new  instructions  should 
arrive  from  France. 

R.  C.  WYLLIE, 

Minister  of  Foreign  Relations. 
Le  Commissaire  de  la  Republique  Francaise, 
EM.  PERRIN. 


THE  HEART  OF  THE  PACIFIC.  335 

PROTOCOL  of  Saturday,  22d  March,  1851. 

The  two  negotiators,  undersigned,  met  at  mid-day,  as  had  been  agreed 
upon. 

Mr.  Wyllie  presented  to  M.  Perrin  a  translation  in  the  English  lan 
guage  of  the  Declaration  agreed  upon,  in  which  the  Alternat  was  clearly 
preserved  in  favor  of  the  King  of  the  Sandwich  Islands. 

M.  Perrin  remarked  that  before  all  he  had  to  sign  the  French  and 
Hawaiian  Texts,  which  were  not  prepared ;  that  in  these  original  docu 
ments  he  could  not  grant  the  Alternat  to  the  King  of 'the  Hawaiian 
Islands,  in  conformity  with  the  usage  of  France,  Great  Britain,  and  the 
United  States ;  that  from  the  15th  of  January  he  had  announced  to  the 
Minister  that  it  would  be  only  after  the  adjustment  of  the  difficulties 
actually  pending,  that  he  could  examine  this  question  of  etiquette,,  re 
ferring  it  to  Paris,  and  then  conforming  to  the  orders  which  he  should 
receive ;  that  until  then  he  could  only  maintain  the  statu  quo  ;  that  this 
measure  adopted  for  the  originals  ought  necessarily  to  be  in  their  trans 
lation.  Mr.  Wyllie*  having  replied  that  he  understood  the  Alternat  as 
allowed  to  the  King  both  by  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States,  and 
that  it  was  generally  granted  between  the  great  powers,  and  even  the 
middling,  M.  Perrin  answered  that  he  did  not  consider  that  the  Ha 
waiian  Kingdom  had  attained  either  of  these  two  ranks. 

Mr.  Wyllie  then  produced  one  original  of  the  English  treaty  of  the 
26th  March,  1&46,  in  which  the  signature  of  the  Minister  was  before  that 
of  the  Consul-general  of  England.  M.  Perrin  observed  that  the  only 
original  published  by*  the  Hawaiian  Government  placed  the  signature  of 
the  agent  of  Great  Britain  on  the  same  line  as  that  of  the  Minister. 
To  cut  this  discussion  short,  the  undersigned  have  agreed  from  this  time 
to  follow  the  precedent  of  England,,  tinder  all  the  reserves  of  the  rights 
of  both  Governments. 

It  was  agreed  that  the  resolution  of  the  King  of  the  Sandwich  Isl 
ands,  containing  the  promise  to  refer  to  the  decision  of  the  President  of 
the  French  Republic  the  question  of  indemnities  reclaimed  by  the 
Hawaiian  Government  in  consequence  of  the  events  of  the  month  of 
August,  1849,  shall  be  (subject  to  the  King's  pleasure)  transmitted  in  an 
official  note,  to  which  the  Commissioner  of  the  French  Republic  will 
reply,  accepting  that  offer,  in  the  name  of  the  Prince  President. 

The  undersigned,  at  their  separation,  agreed  to  meet  again  on  Tuesday 
next  at  mid-day. 

R.  C.  WYLLIE, 

Minister  of  Foreign  Relations. 
Le  Commissaire  de  la  Republique  Francaise, 
EM.  PERRIN. 

PROTOCOL  of  Tuesday,  25th  March,  1851. 

The  undersigned  negotiators  met  this  day,  as  had  been  agreed  upon 
at  their  last  conference  of  the  22d  instant. 


336  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

Before  proceeding  to  the  exchange  of  their  respective  powers,  the 
undersigned  employed  themselves  in  comparing  the  French  and  English 
texts  of  the  PROTOCOLS  of  the  15th,  18th,  19th,  and  22d  instant,  and 
afterwards  affixed  thereto  their  signatures. 

Mr.  Wyllie  remarked  that  after  having  hastily  finished  translations  of 
M.  Perrin's  dispatch  No.  18,  of  the  22d  of  this  month,  and  of  his  "  VERBAL 
NOTE"  accompanying  it,  he  desired  to  revise  them  with  the  French  Com 
missioner,  so  as  that  when  rendering  an  account  thereof  to  the  King  and 
Council,  he  might  be  sure  to  convey  the  true  meaning  of  M.  Perrin. 
This  verification  was  immediately  made. 

Mr.  Wyllie  then  begged  permission  of  the  French  Commissioner  to 
read  to  him  the  notes  No.  22,  23,  24,  and  25,  dated  this  day,  all  drafted 
in  haste  by  him,  but  which  it  had  been  impossible  for  his  Secretary  to 
copy. 

After  reading  them,  the  Minister  expressed  his  strong  hope  that  the 
French  Government  would  consider  all  the  points  upon  which  a  solution 
was  deferred  till  after  their  Commissioner  had  referred  them,  as  insig 
nificant  compared  with  those  which  had  been  settled ;  the  Commissioner 
of  the  French  Republic  manifested  a  different  opinion,  and  the  two  ne 
gotiators  then  agreed  to  give  a  new  proof  of  thei*  sincere  desire  to  arrive, 
as  soon  as  possible,  at  the  re-establishment  of  relations  between  the  two 
countries,  by  continuing  to  discuss,  officially,  and  in  a  conciliatory  spirit, 
in  a  series  of  new  conferences,  the  divers  points  remaining  to  be  settled, 
but  that  no  new  Declaration  shall  be  made,  till  after  the  arrival  of  the 
instructions  asked  for  of  the  French  Government,  by  their  Special  Com 
missioner. 

Mr.  Wyllie  asked  M.  Perrin's  leave  to  call  his  attention  to  a  claim 
which  he  had  completely  forgotten,  at  the  moment  of  making  out  the 
Schedule  of  indemnities. 

The  undersigned  then  exchanged  their  respective  powers,  signed  and 
sealed  three  originals  of  the  Declaration  agreed  upon  in  French  and 
Hawaiian,  at  5  o'clock  P.  M.,  making  mutual  reserves  in  regard  to  the 
right  of  "Alternat" 

The  undersigned  then  adjourned  their  sitting,  sine  die. 

R.  C.  WYLLIE, 

Minister  of  Foreign  Relations. 
Le  Comraissaire  de  la  Republique  Francaise, 
EM.  PERRIN. 


TIIK  HEART    OF   IJHE    PACIFIC. 


DECLARATION". 

THE  President  of  the  French  Republic,  and  the  King  of  the  Hawaiian 
Islands,  animate'd.by  an  equal  desire  to  terminate  the  adjustment  o 
pending  difficulties  between  the  two  countries,  and  to  prevent  their 
return  for  the  future,  by  assuring  the  just  and  complete  execution  of 
the  convention  of  the  26th  of  March,  1846,.  in  regard  to  the  points  in 
controversy,  through  a  new  official  act,  destined  to  interpret  it,  have 
chosen,  for  -this  purpose,  the  undersigned  Commissioner  of  the  French 
Republic,  and  Minister  of  Foreign  Aifairs  of  the  Hawaiian  Kingdom,  the 
signers  of  the  Treaty  above  mentioned,  who,  after  having  exchanged  their 
full  powers,  found  in  good  form,  have  agreed  to  the  terms  of  the  follow 
ing  declaration : 

1.  The  Treaty  of  the  26th  of  March,  1846,  will  be  faithfully  adopted 
and  interpreted  in  the  two  texts,  French  and  Hawaiian,  the  only  ones 
officially  signed.     It  remains  agreed  in  all  the  cases  where  the  foreign 
judges  not  understanding  French  have  to  decide,  the  texts  of  the  Eng 
lish  treaty,  officially  declared  identical,  undet  reserve  of  the  III.  article, 
shall  be  considered  as  an  exact  translation. 

2.  "Without  admitting  that  by  the  establishment  of  a  Custom-house 
duty  of  $5  per  gallon  upon  spirits,  the  Hawaiian  Government  have  gone 
beyond  the  exclusive  power  which  France  herself  had  granted  to  them, 
through  the  means  of  the  wording  of  the  VI.  article  of  the  Trea*ty  above 
mentioned — an  assertion,  in  regard  to  which,  the  undersigned  French 
Commissioner  makes  all -reserves — and  after  having  proved  that  the 
effects  of  that  duty  have  been  profitable  to  France,  and  hurtful  to  the 
English  and  American  trade  in  spirits — the  King  of  the  Sandwich  Isl 
ands  declares  himself  disposed  to  submit  the  question  of  the  reduction 
of  duty  to  $2.50  cents  per  gallon,  as  a  maximum.,  to  the  legislature, 
which  is  to  assemble  next  month,  as  a  measure  of  political  economy, 
which  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  Honolulu  have  recommended  on- 
strong  grounds. 

3.  The  government  of  the  king  cannot  recognize,  on  the  part  of  any 
foreign  nation,  the  right  of  dictating  or  prescribing  laws  to  them,  on 
matters  which  affect  only  the  religious  belief  or  secular  education  of  the 
native  subjects  of  the  king;  nevertheless^  disposed  to  admit' the  third 
of  the  demands  presented  by  M.  Perrin,  on  the  1st  of  February  last,  as 
a  friendly  suggestion,  destined  for  the  examination  of  the  legislature 
which  is  to  assemble  this  year,  the  Hawaiian  Government  will  place 
these   assemblies  in  a  position  to  decide,  if  the  equality  between  the 
Catholics  and  the  Protestants,  under  the  protection  of  the  Constitution 
and  the  Laws,  of  which  numerous  proofs  have  been  furnished,  do  not 
yet  require  something  for  its  perfect  application. 

4.  Documents  presented  by  French  citizens,  in  their  own  language, 

15 


338  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 


will  be  received  in  all  the  cases  in  which  documents  in  the  English  lan 
guage  are  received ;  but,  in  the  cases  where  the  employees  whose  duty. 
it  is  to  make  use  of  these  documents  do  not  understand  French,  it  shall 
be  incumbent,  provisionally,  on  the  party  interested,  to  furnish  a  trans 
lation  of  the  document  produced,  which,  to  prevent  all  error  and  dis 
cussion,  shall  be  certified  by  him  as  true. 
Honolulu,  25t?i  March,  1851. 

R.  C.  WYLLIE, 

Minister  of  Foreign  Relations. 
Le  Commissaire  de  la  Republique  Francaise, 

EM.  PERRLST. 


From  the  foregoing  papers  it  will  be  seen  that  the 
controversy  of  the  Hawaiian  government  with  the 
French  is  in  the  way  of  adjustment.  "  All  that  is  want 
ing  is  for  France  to  restore  harmony ;  for,  on  behalf  of 
the  king's  government,  they  have  never  for  one  moment 
deviated  from  their  policy  of  treating  France,  her  citi 
zens,  and  all  their  interests,  on  the  footing  of  the  most 
favored  nation.  That  this  wise  and  nnresenting  policy 
will  be  duly  appreciated  by  the  French  government,  is 
not  to  be  doubted.  But,  to  crown  all,  King  Kamehameha 
III.,  with  a  magnanimity  worthy  of  a  sovereign,  -refers 
his  claims  for  indemnity  for  severe  losses  sustained, 
without  requiring  the  punishment  of  the  authors,  to 
the  President  of  France  himself;  'thus  proving  to  the 
world  alike  his  confidence  in  the  justice  of  his  own 
cause,  and  in  the  justice  of  Prince  Louis  Napoleon 
Bonaparte,  in  whose  hands  he  places  it." 

In  his  speech  at  the  .opening  of  the  Hawaiian  Par 
liament,  on  the  10th  of  May,  1851,  the  king  uses  the 
following  language :  "  Diplomatic  Relations  have  not 
been  fully  restored  with  France,  but  having,  on  my 
part,  referred  certain  claims  for  indemnity  to  the  Presi- 


THE  HEART  OF  THE  PACIFIC,  339 

dent  of  the  French  Republic,  I  hope  that  he,  meeting 
me  in  a  corresponding  spirit,  will  issue  such  instruc 
tions  as  to  put  an  end  to  an  attitude  of  hostility  towards 
my  kingdom,  taken  by  France,  which  I  have  ever  re 
gretted,  and  Jiave  never  sought,  in  any  way,  to  retaliate. 
I  am  not  conscious  of  any  act  of  my  government,  of 
which  France  has  any  reason  to  complain" 

The  simple  utterance  of  the  above  sentence  by  His 
Majesty,  says  the  Polynesian,  felt,  as  it  is,  to  be  the 
simple  truth,  has  more  force 'than  a  thousand  volumes 
of  subtle  reasoning,  in  convincing  the  judgment,-  and 
in  nerving  the  heart.  And  the  sentiment  is  not  con 
fined  to  the  breast  of  His  Majesty  ;  it  is  entertained  by 
every  member  of  his  government,  and  is  the  universal 
sentiment  qf  the  world.  Its  truth  calls  forth  the  sym 
pathies  of  all  his  subjects,  and  unites  the  opinions  of 
all  classes  upon  his  shores. 

It  is  understood  that  negotiations  are  in  progress 
with  the  United  States,  at  Washington,  through  an 
authorized  agent  of  the  Hawaiian  kingdom,  which 
have  for  their  end  either  the  establishment  of  an 
American  Protectorate  at  the  Sandwich  Islands,  or 
their  annexation  to  the  American  Union,  in  the  event 
of  the  non-establishment  of  permanent  friendly  relations 
with  France  on  a  satisfactory  and  independent  basis. 
Certain  significant  events  of  Providence,  and  the  fact 
that  the  Hawaiian  Islands  are  already  a  virtual  colony 
of  the  United  States,  a  missionary  offshoot  from  the 
stock  of  New  England,  together  with  the  "  manifest 
destiny"  view  of  the  extension  of  American  institutions, 


34:0  LIFE   IN  THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

give  a  strong  probability  to  what  might  otherwise  seem 
but  a  presumption,  namely,  that  the  lapse  of  a  few 
years  will  find  the  Heart  of  the  Pacific  a  twin  heart 
with  the  great  American  Republic,  organized  under 
the  same  laws,  and  beating  with  the  same  Anglo-Saxon 
blood  that  shall  animate  the  united  millions  of  all 
North  America  between  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific. 
The  law  of  progress  and  of  conquest  by  arts  and  emi 
gration  is  so  clearly  impressed  upon  the  American 
division  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  family,  that  it  is  like  a 
denial*  of  Providence  and  Destiny  to  doubt  its  great 
and  glorious  issues,  or  the  triumphs  it  is  yet  to  achieve 
on  the  field  of  social  progress  and  humanity.  We 
quote,  as  in  place  here,  the  following  paper  on 

THE  PROGRESS  OF  THE  ANGLO-SAXON  RACE. 

By  a  fortunate  coincidence,  the  general  total  of  the  American  census 
taken  last  year  has  just  been  received,  and  we  are  enabled,  in  Conjunc 
tion  with  the  returns  made  on  the  31st  of  March  for  this  country,  to 
measure  the  absolute  progress  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race  in  its  two  grand 
divisions,  and  to  compare  the  laws  of  their  respective  growths  in  relation 
to  each  other  and  to  the  rest  of  the  world.  It  is  estimated,  including 
Ireland  and  the  colonies,  that  there  is  a  grand  total  of  men  speaking  the 
same  language  and  manifesting  the  same  general  tendencies  of  civiliza 
tion,  of  fifty-six  millions,  from  which  is  to  be  deducted  the  three  millions 
of  negro  slaves  in  the  United  States,  leaving  a  remainder  of  fifty-three 
millions,  chiefly  of  Anglo-Saxon  descent,  and  deeply  impregnated  with 
its  sturdy  qualities  of  heart  and  brain,  as  the  representative  of  this 
advancing  stock.  • 

Two  centuries  ago  there  were  not  quite  three  millions  of  this  race  on 
the  face  of  the  earth.  There  are  a  million  more  persons  of  Magyar 
descent, 'speaking  the  Magyar  language,  at  the  present  moment  in 
Europe  than  there  were  in  Europe  and  America  of  this  conquering  and 
colonizing  people  in  the  time  of  Cromwell.  How  vain,  then,  for  men  to 
talk  of  the  political  necessity  for  absorbing  small  races  !  Sixty  years 
ago,  the  Anglo-Saxon  race  did  not  exceed  seventeen  millions  in  Europe 
and  America,  At  that  time  it  was  not  numerically  stronger  than  the 


THE   HEART    OF   THE   PACIFIC.  34:1 

Poles.  Thirty  years  ago  it  counted  only  thirty-four  millions;  being 
altogether  only  three  millions  and  a  fraction  more  than  the  population 
of  France  at  that  time,  and  considerably  less  than  the  Teutonic  popula 
tion  of  Central  Europe.  In  1851  it  is  ahead  of  every  civilized  race  in 
the  world.  Of  races  lying  within  the  zones  of  civilization,  the  Sclaves 
alone  are  more  numerous,  counted  by  heads ;  but  comparatively  few 
of  this  plastic  and  submissive  stock  have  yet  escaped  from  the  barbarism 
of  the  dark  ages.  In  wealth,  energy,  and  cultivation,  they  are  not  to-  be 
compared  with  the  Frank,  the  Teuton,  and  the  Anglo:Saxon.  Number 
is  almost  their  only  element  of  strength. 

Of  all  the  races  which  .are  now  striving  for  the  mastery  of  the  world, 
to  impress  on  the  future  of  society  and  civilization  the  stamp  of  it&  own 
character  and  genius,  to  make  its  law,  idiom,  religion,  manners,  govern 
ment,  and  opinion  prevail,  the  Anglo-Saxon  is  now  unquestionably  the 
most  numerous,  powerful,  and  active.  The  day  when  it  might  possibly 
have  been  crushed,  absorbed,  or  trampled  out,  like  Hungary  and  Poland, 
by  stronger  hordes,  is  gone  by  forever.  That  it  was  possible  at  one 
time  for  this  people  to  be  subdued  by  violence,  or  to  fall  a  prey  to  the 
slower  agonies  of  decline,  there  can  be  little  doubt.  In  1650  the  United 
Provinces  seemed  more  likely  to  make  a  gfand  figure  in  the  world's 
future  history  than  England.  Their  wealth,  activity,  and  maritime 
power  were  the  most  imposing  in  Europe.  They  had  all  the  carrying 
trade  of  the  west  in  their  hands.  Their  language  was  spoken  in  every 
port.  In  the  great  Orient  their  empire  was  fixed  and  their  influence 
paramount.  England  was  then  hardly  known  abroad.  Her  difficult 
idiom  grated  on  foreign  ears,  and  her  stormy  coasts  repelled  the  curiosity 
of  more  cultivated  travellers.  And  if  the  thought  of  a  day  arriving  when 
any  single  European  language  would  be  spoken  by  millions  of  persons, 
scattered  over  the  great  continents  of  the  earth  from  New  Zealand  to 
the  Hebrides,  and  from  the  Cape  of  Storms  to  the  Arctic  Ocean,  occurred 
to  any  speculative  mind,  Dutch,  not  English,  would  probably  have  been 
the  tongue  to  which  he  would  have  assigned  the  marvellous  mission. 

Yet  Holland  has  fallen  nearly  as  much  as  the  Saxon  has  risen  in 
the  scale  of  nations.  Her  idiom  is  now  acquired  by  few.  Her  merchants 
conduct  their  correspondence  and  transact  their  business  in  French  or  in 
English.  Even  her  writers  have  many  of  them  clothed  their  genius  in  a 
foreign  garb.  On  the.  other  hand,  our  literature  and  language  have 
•  passed  entirely  out  of  this  phase  of  danger.  Dutch,  like  Welsh,  Flemish,' 
Erse,  Basque,  and  other  idioms,  is  doomed  to  perish  as  an  intellectual 
medium  ;  but  whatever  may  be  the  future  changes  of  the  world,  the 
tongue  of  Shakspeare  and  of  Bacon  is  now  too  firmly  rooted  ever  to  be 
torn  away.  No  longer  content  with  mere  preservation,  it  aims  at  uni 
versal  mastery.  Gradually  it  is  taking  possession  of  all  the  ports  and 
coasts  of  the  world  ;  isolating  all  rival  idioms,  shutting  them  up  from 
intercourse  with  each  other,  making  itself  the  channel  of  every  commu- 


342  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

nication.  At  a  hundred  points  at  once  it  plays  the  aggressor,  It  con 
tends  with  Spanish  on  the  frontiers  of  Mexico ;  drives  French  and 
Russian  before  it  in  Canada  and  in  the  Northern  Archipelago ;  supersedes 
Dutch  at  the  Cape  and  Natal  ;t  elbows  Greek  and  Italian  at  Malta  and 
in  the  Ionian  Islands ;  usurps  the  right  of  Arabic  at  Suez  and  Alexandria ; 
maintains  itself  supreme  at  Liberia,  Hongkong,  Jamaica,  and  St.  Helena ; 
fights  its  way  against  multitudinous  and  various  dialects  in  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  in  Central  America,  on  the  Gold  Coast,  in  the  interior  of 
Australia,  and  among  the  countless  islands  in  the  Eastern  Seas.  No 
other  language  is  spreading  in  this  way.  French  and  German  find 
students  among  cultivated  men ;  but  English  permanently  destroys  and 
supersedes  the  idioms  with  which  it  comes  in  contact. 

The  relative  growth  of  the  two  great  Anglo-Saxon  States  is  note 
worthy.  In  1801  the  population  of  Great  Britain  was  10,942,646 ;  in 
1800  that  of  the  United  States  was  5,319,762,  or  not  quite  half.  In  1850 
the  population  of  the  United  States  was  two  millions  and  a  third  more 
than  that  of  Great  Britain  in  1851 ;  at  this  moment  it  probabty  exceeds 
it  by  three  millions.  The  rate  of  decennial  increase  in  this  country  is  less 
than  15  per  cent.,  while  in  America  it  is  about  35  -per  cent.  In  the 
great  Continental  States  the  rate  is  considerably  lower  than  in  England. 
According  to  the  progress  of  the  last  fifty  years  in  France  and  in  America, 
the  United  States  will  have  the  larger  population  in  1870  ;  in  1900  they 
will  exceed  those  of  England,  France,  Spain,  Portugal,  Denmark,  Sweden, 
and  Switzerland  combined.  Prudent  statesmen  should  bear -these  facts 
in  mind.  Many  persons  now  alive  may  see  the  time  when  America 
will  be  of  more  importance  to  us,  socially,  commercially,  and  politically, 
than  all  Europe  put  together.  Old  diplomatic  traditions  will  go  for 
little  in  face  of  a  transatlantic  power  numbering  one  hundred  millions  of 
free  and  energetic  men  of  our  own  race  and  blood.— -Athenceum. 


COPY   OF    THE    LATE    TREATY    BETWEEN    THE    UNITED 
STATES  AND  SANDWICH  ISLANDS. 

THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA  AND  His  MAJESTY  THE  KING  OF  THE 
HAWAIIAN  ISLANDS,  equally  animated  with  the  desire  of  maintaining  the 
relations  of  good  understanding  which  have  hitherto  so  happily  subsisted 
between  their  respective  States,  and  consolidating  the  commercial  inter 
course  between  them,  have  agreed  to  enter  into  negotiations  for  the 
conclusion  of  a  treaty  of  Friendship,  Commerce,  and  Navigation,  for 
which  purpose  they  have  appointed  Plenipotentiaries,  that  is  to  say  : 

The  President  of  the  United  States  of  America,  John  M.  Clayton, 
Secretary  of  State  of  the  United  States ;  and  His  Majesty  the  King  oi 
the  Hawaiian  Islands,  James  Jackson  Jarves,  accredited  as  his  Special 


THE   HEART   OF   THE   PACIFIC.  34:3 

Commissioner  to  the  Government  of  the  United  States;  who,  after 
having  exchanged  their  full  powers,  found  in  good  and  due  form,  have 
concluded  and  signed  the  following  articles  : 

ARTICLE  1. — There  shall  be  perpetual  peace  and  amity  between  the 
United  States  and  the  King  of  the  Hawaiian  Islands,  his  heirs,  and  -his 
successors. 

ARTICLE  2. — There  shall  be  reciprocal  liberty  of  commerce  and  navi 
gation  between  the  United  States  of  America  and  the  Hawaiian  Islands. 

JSTo  duty  of  customs  or  other  impost  shall  be  charged  upon  any  goods, 
the  produce  or  manufacture  of  one  country,  upon  importation  from  such 
country  into  the  other,  other  or  higher  than  the  duty  or  impost  charged 
upon  goods  of  the  same  kind,  the  produce  or  manufacture  of,  or  imported 
from  any  other,  country ;  and  the  United  -States  of  America,  and  His 
Majesty  the  King  of  the  Hawaiian  Islands  do  hereby  engage,  that  the 
subjects  or  citizens  of  any  other  State  shall  not  enjoy  any  favor,  privi 
lege,  or  immunity  whatever,  in  matters*  of  commerce  and  navigation, 
which  shall  not  also,  at  the  same  time,  be  extended  to  the  subjects  or 
citizens  of  the  other  contracting  parties  gratuitously,  if  the  concession 
in  favor  of  that  other  State  shall  ha-ve  been  gratuitous,  and  in  return  for 
a  compensation,  as  nearly  as  possible,  of  proportionate  value  and  effect, 
to  be  adjusted  by  mutual  agreement,  if  the  concession  shall  have  been 
conditional. 

ARTICLE  3.— All  articles,  the  produce  and  manufacture  of  either  country 
which  can  legally  boi  imported  into  either  country  from  the  other,  in 
ships  of  that  other  country,  and  thence  coming,  shall,  when  so  imported, 
be  subject  to  the  same  duties,  and  enjoy  the  same  privileges,  whether 
imported  in  ships  of  the  one  country,  or  in  ships  of  the  other ;  and  in 
like  manner,  all  goods  which  can  legally  be  exported  or  re-exported 
from  either  country  to  the  other,  in  ships  of  that  other  country,  shall, 
when  so  exported  or  re-exported,  be  subject  to  the  same  duties,  and  be  en 
titled  to  the  same  privileges,  drawbacks,  bounties,  and  allowances,  whether 
exported  in  ships  of  the  one  country  or  in  ships  of  the  other ;  and  all 
goods  and  articles,  of  whatever  description,  not  being  of  the  produce  or 
manufacture  of  the  United  States,  which  can  be  legally  imported  into 
the  Sandwich  Islands,  shall,  when  so  imported  in  vessels  of  the  United 
States,  pay  no  other  or  higher  duties,  imposts,  or  charges,  than  shall  be 
payable  upon  the  like  goods  and  articles,  when  imported  in  the  vessels" 
of  the  most  favored  foreign  nation  other  than  the  nation  of  which  the 
said  goods  and  articles  are  the  produce  or  manufacture. 

ARTICLE  4. — No  duties  of  tonnage,  harbor,  ligjit-houses,  pilotage,  quar 
antine,  or  other  similar  duties,  of  whatever  nature,  or  under  whatever 
denomination,  shall  be  imposed  in  either  country  upon  the  vessels  of  the 
other^in  respect  of  voyages  between  the  United  States  of  America  and 
the  Hawaiian  Islands,  if  laden,  or  in  respect  of  any  voyage,  if  in  ballast, 
which  shall  not  Jbe-  equally  imposed  in  the  like  cases  on  national  vessels. 


3M  LIFE    IN   THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

ARTICLE  5.— It  is  hereby  declared,  that  the  stipulations  of  the  present 
treaty  are  not  to  be  understood  us  applying  to  the  navigation  and  carry 
ing  trade  between  one  port  and  another  situated  in  the  States  of  either 
contracting  party,  such  navigation  and  trade  being  reserved  exclusively 
to  national  vessels. 

ARTICLE  6. — Steam-vessels  of  the  United  States  which  may  be  em 
ployed  by  the  government  of  the  said  States,  in  the  carrying  of  their 
public,  mails  across  the  Pacific  Ocean,  or  from  one  port  in  that  ocean  to 
another,  shall  have  free  access  to  the  ports  of  the  Sandwich  Islands, 
with  the  privilege  of  stopping  therein  to  refit,  to  refresh,  to  land  pas 
sengers  and  their  baggage,  and  for  the  transaction  of  any  business  per 
taining  to  the  public  mail  service  of  the  United  States,  and  shall  be 
subject  in  such  ports  to  no  duties  of  tonnage,  harbor,  light-houses,  quar 
antine,  or  other  similar  duties,  of  whatever  nature  or  under  whatever 
denomination. 

ARTICLE  7. — The  whale-ships  of  the  United  States  shall  have  access 
to  the  ports  of  Hilo,  Kealakekua,  and  Hanalei,  in  the  Sandwich  Islands, 
for  the  purposes  of  refitment  and  refreshment,  as  well  as  to  the  ports 
of  Honolulu  and  Lahaina,  which  only  are  ports  of  entry  for  all  merchant 
vessels,  and  in  all  the  above-named  ports,  they  shall  be  permitted  to 
trade  or  barter  their  supplies  or  goods,  excepting  spirituous  liquors,  to 
the  amo.unt  of  two  'hundred  dollars,  ad  valorem,  for  each  vessel,  without  • 
paying  any  charge  for  tonnage  or  harbor  dues  of  any  description,  or 
any  duties  or  imposts  whatever  upon  the  goods  or3  articles  so  traded  or 
bartered.  They  shall  also  be  permitted,  with  the  like  exemption  from 
all  charges  for  tonnage  and  harbor  dues,  further  to  trade  or  barter,  with 
the  same  exemption  as  to  spirituous  liquors,  to  the  additional  amount  of 
one  thousand  dollars,  ad  valorem,  for  each  vessel,  paying  upon  the  addi 
tional  goods  and  articles  so  traded  and  bartered,  no  other  or  higher 
duties  than  are  payable  on  like  goods  and  articles,  when  imported  in 
the  vessels  and  by  the  citizens  or  subjects  of  the  most  favored  foreign 
nation.  They  shall  also  be  permitted  to  pass  from  port  to  port  of  the 
Sandwich  Islands  for  the  purpose  of  procuring  refreshments,  but  they 
shall  not  discharge  their  seamen  or  land  their  passengers  in  the  said 
Islands,  except  at  Lahaina  and  Honolulu.;  and  in  all  the  ports  named  in 
this  article,  the  whale-ships  of  the  United  States  shall  enjoy  in  all  re 
spects  whatsoever,  all  the  rights,  privileges,  and  immunities,  which  are 
enjoyed  by,  or  shall  be  granted  to,  the  whale-ships  of  the  most  favored 
foreign  nation.  The  like  privilege  of  frequenting  the  three  ports  of  the 
Sandwich  Islands  above-itemed  in  this  article,  not  being  ports  of  entry 
for  merchant  vessels,  is  also  guarantied  to  all  the  public  armed  vessels 
of  the  United  States.  But  nothing  in  this  article  shall  be  construed  as 
authorizing  any  vessel  of  the  United  States,  having  on  board  any  dis 
ease  usually  regarded  as  requiring  quarantine,  to  enter,  during  the  con- 


THE    IIKAIiT    CF    THE    TACIFIC.  .345 


tinuance  of  such  disease  on  board,  any  port  of  the  Sandwich  Islands, 
other  than  Lahaina  or  Honolulu. 

ARTICLE  8. — The  contracting  parties  engage,  in  regard  to  the  personal 
privileges,  that  the  citizens  of  the  United  States  of  America  shall  enjoy 
in  the  dominions  of  His  Majesty  the  King  of  the  Hawaiian  Islands,  and 
the  subjects  of  his  said  Majesty  in  the  United  States  of  America,  that 
they  shall  have  free  and  undoubted  right  to  travel  and  to  reside  in  the 
States  of  the  two  high  contracting  parties,  subject  to  the  same  precau 
tions  of  police  which  are  practised  towards  the  subjects  or  citizens  o*f 
the  most  favored  nations.  They  shall  be  entitled  to  occupy  dwellings 
and  warehouses,  and  to  dispose  of  their  personal-property  of  every  kind 
and  description,  by  sale,  gift,  exchange,  will,  or  in  any  other  way  what 
ever,  without  the  smallest  hindrance  or  obstacle ;  and  their  heirs  or  rep 
resentatives,  being  subjects  or  citizens  of  the  other  contracting  party, 
shall  succeed  to  their  personal  goods,  whether  by  testament  or  ab  in- 
testato ;  and  may  take  possession  thereof,  either  by  themselves,  or  by 
others  acting  for  them,  and  dispose  of  the  same  at  will,  paying  to  the 
profit  of  the  respective  governments  such  dues  only  as  the  inhabitants 
of  the  country  wherein  the  said  goods  are,  shall  be  subject  to  pay  in 
like  cases.  And  in  case  of  the  absence  of  the  heirs  and  representative, 
such  care  shall  be  taken  of  the  said  goods  as  would  be  taken  of  the  goods 
of  a  native  of  the  same  country  in  like  case,  until  the  lawful  owner  may 
take  measures  for  receiving  them.  And  if  a  question  should  arise  among 
several  claimants  as  to  which  of  them  said  goods  belong,  the  same  shall 
be  decided  finally  by  the  laws  and  judges  of  the  land  wherein  the  said 
goods  are.  Where,  on  the  decease  of  any  person  holding  real  estate 
within  the  territories  of  one  party,  such  real  estate  would,  by  the  laws 
of  the  land,  descend  on  a  citizen  or  subject  of  the  other,  were  he  not 
disqualified  by  alienage,  such  citizen  or  subject  shall  be  allowed  a 
reasonable  time  to  sell  the  same,  and  to  withdraw  the  proceeds  without 
molestation,  and  exempt  from  all  duties  of  detraction  on  the  part  of  the 
government  of  the  respective  States.  The  citizens  or  subjects  of  the 
contracting  parties  shall  not  be  obliged  to  pay,  under  any  pretdnce  what 
ever,  any  taxes  or  impositions,  other  or  greater  than  those  which  are 
paid,  or  may  hereafter  be  paid,  by  the  subjects  or  citizens  of  the  most 
favored  nations  in  the  respective  States  of  the  high  contracting  parties. 
They  shall  be  exempt  from  all  military  service,  whether  by  land  or  by 
sea ;  from  forced  loans,  and  from  every  extraordinary  contribution  not 
general  and  by  law  established.  Their  dwellings,  warehouses,  and  all 
premises  appertaining  thereto,  destined  for  the  purposes  of  commerce  or 
residence,  shall  be  respected.  No  arbitrary  search  of,  or  visit  to  their 
houses,  and  no  arbitrary  examination  or  inspection  whatever  of  the  books, 
papers,  or  accounts  of  their  trade,  shall  be  made ;  but  such  measures 
shall  be  executed  only  in  conformity  with  the  legal  sentence  of  a  com 
petent  tribunal ;  and  each  of  the  two  contracting  parties  engages  that 

15* 


346  LIFE    IN   THE    SANDWICH    ISLANDS. 


the  citizens  or  subjects  of  the  other  residing  in  their  respective  States, 
shall  enjoy  their  property  and  personal  security,  in  as  full  and  ample 
manner  as  their  own  citizens  or  subjects,  or  the  subjects  or  citizens  of 
the  most  favored  nation,  but  subject  always  to  the  laws  and  statutes  of 
the  two  countries  respectively. 

ARTICLE  9. — The  citizens  ami  subjects  of  each  of  the  two  contracting 
parties  shall  be  free  in  the  States  of  the  other  to  manage  their  own 
affairs  themselves,  or  to  commit  those  affairs  to  the  management  of  any 
persons  whom  they  may  appoint  as  their  broker,  factor,  or  agent ;  nor 
shall  the  citizens  and  subjects  of  the  two  contracting  parties  be  restrained 
in  their  choice  of  persons  to  act  in  such  capacities,  nor  shall  they  be 
called  upon  to  pay  any  salary  or  remuneration  to  any  person  whom 
they  shall  not  choose  to  employ.  Absolute  freedom  shall  be  given  in 
all  cases  to  the  buyer  and  seller  to  bargain  together,  and  to  fix  the 
price  of  any  goods  or  merchandise  imported  into,  or  to  be  exported 
from,  the  States  and  dominions  of  the  two  contracting  parties  ;  save  and 
except  generally  such  cases  wherein  the  laws  and  usages  of  the  country 
may  require  the  intervention  of  any  special  agents  in  the  States  and 
dominions  of  the  contracting  parties.  But  nothing  contained  in  this  or 
any  other  article  of  the  present  treaty  shall  be  construed  to  authorize 
the  sale  of  spirituous  liquors  to  the  natives  of  the  Sandwich  Islands 
further  than  such  sale  may  be  allowed  by  the  Hawaiian  laws. 

ARTICLE  10. — Each  of  the  two  contracting  parties  may  have,  in  the 
ports  of  the  other,  consuls,  vice-consuls,  and  commercial  agents,  of  their 
own  appointment,  who  shall  enjoy  the  same  privileges  and  powers  with 
those  of  the  most  favored  nation ;  but  if  any  such  consuls  shall  exercise 
commerce,  they  shall  be  subject  to  the  same  laws  and  usages  to  which 
the  private  individuals  of  their  nation  are  subject  in  the  same  place. 
The  said  consuls,  vice-consuls,  and  commercial  agents,  are  authorized  to 
require  the  assistance  of  the  local  authorities  for  the  search,  arrest, 
detention,  and  imprisonment  of  the  deserters  from  the  ships  of  war  and 
merchant  vessels  of  their  country.  For  this  purpose  they  shall  apply 
to  the  competent  tribunals,  judges,  and  officers,  and  shall  in  writing 
demand  the  said  deserters,  proving,  by  the  exhibition  of  registers  of  the 
vessels,  the  rolls  of  the  crews,  or  by  other  official  documents,  that  such 
individuals  formed  part  of  the  crews ;  and  this  reclamation  being  thus 
substantiated,  the  surrender  shall  not  be  refused.  Such  deserters  when 
arrested  shall  be  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  said  consuls,  vice-consuls, 
or  commercial  agents,  and  may  be  confined  in  the  public  prisons  at  the 
request  and  cost  of  those  who  shall  claim  them,  in  order  to  be  detained 
until  the  time  when  they  shall  be  restored  to  the  vessel  to  which  they 
belonged,  or  sent  back  to  their  own  country  by  a  vessel  of  the  same 
nation  or  any  other  vessel  whatsoever.  The  agents,  owners,  or  masters 
of  vessels,  on  account  of  whom  the  deserters  have  been  apprehended, 
upon  requisition  of  the  local  authorities,  shall  be  required  to  take  or 


THE  HEART  OF  THE  PACIFIC.  347 

send  away  such  deserters  from  the  States  and  dominions  of  the  contract 
ing  parties,  or- give  such  security  for  their  good  conduct  as  the  law  may 
require.  But  if  not  sent  back  nor  reclaimed  within  six  months  from  the 
day  of  then:  arrest,  or  if  all  the  expenses  of  such  imprisonment  are  not 
defrayed  by  the  party  causing  such  arrest  and  imprisonment,  they  shall 
be  set  at  liberty,  and  shall  not  be  again  arrested  for  the  same  cause. 
However,  if  the  deserters  should  be  found  to  have  committed  any 
•  crime  or  offence,  their  surrender  may  be  delayed  until  the  tribunal 
before  whom  their  case  shall  be  depending  shall  have  pronounced  its 
sentence  and  such  sentence  shall  have  been  carried  into  effect. 

ARTICLE  11. — It  is  agreed  that  perfect  and  entire  liberty  of  conscience 
shall  be  enjoyed  by  the  citizens  and  subjects  of  both  .the  contracting 
parties,  in  the  countries  of  the  one  and  the  other,  without  their  being 
liable  to  be  disturbed  or  molested  on  account  of  their  religious  belief. 
But  nothing  contained  in  this  article  shall  be  construed  to  interfere 
with  the  exclusive  right  of  the  Hawaiian  Government  to  regulate 
for  itself  the  schools  which  it  may  establish  or  support  within  its 
jurisdiction. 

ARTICLE  12. — If  any  ships  of  war  or  other  vessels  be  wrecked  on  the 
coasts  of  the  States  or  territories  of"  either  of  the  contracting  parties, 
such  ships  or  vessels,  or  any  parts  thereof,  and  all  furniture  and  appur 
tenances  belonging  thereunto,  and  all  goods  and  merchandise  which 
shall  be  saved  therefrom,  or  the  produce  thereof  if  sold,  shall  be  faith 
fully  restored  with  the  least  possible  delay  to  the  proprietors,  upon 
being  claimed  by  them,  or  by  their  duly  authorized  factors;  and  if 
there  are  no  such  proprietors  or  factors  on  the  spot,  then  the  said  goods 
and  merchandise,  or  the  proceeds  thereof,  as  well  as  all  the  papers  « 
found  on  board  such  wrecked  ships  or  vessels,  shall  be  delivered  to  the 
American  or  Hawaiian  consul  or  vice-consul  in  whose  district  the  wreck 
may  have  taken  place ;  and  such  consul,  vice-consul,  proprietors,  or 
factors,  shall  pay  only  the  expenses  incurred  in  the  preservation  of  the 
property,  together  with  the  rate  of  salvage  and  expenses  of  quarantine 
which  would  have  been  payable  in  the  like  case  of  a  wreck  of  a  national 
vessel ;  and  the  goods  and  merchandise  saved  from  the  wreck  shall  not 
be  subject  to  duties  unless  entered  for  consumption  ;  it  being  understood 
that  in  case  of  any  legal  claim  upon  such  wreck,  goods,  or  merchandise, 
the  same  shall  be  referred  for  decision  to  the  competent  tribunals  of 
the  country. 

ARTICLE  13. — The  vessels  of  either  of  the  two  contracting  parties 
which  may  be  forced  by  stress  of  weather  or  other  cause  into  one  of  the 
ports  of  the  other,  shall  be  exempt  from  all  duties  of  port  or  navigation, 
paid  for  the  benefit  of  the  State,  if  the  motives  which  led  to  their  seek 
ing  refuge  be  real  and  evident,  and  if  no  cargo  be  discharged  or  taken 
on  board,  save  such  as  may  re-late  to  the  subsistence  of  the  crew,  or  be 
necessary  for  the  repair  of  the  vessels,  and  if  they  do  not  stay  in  port 


GdtS  LIFE   IN   THE   SANDWICH    ISLANDS. 

beyond  the  time  necessary,  keeping  in  view  the  cause  which  led  to  their 
seeking  refuge. 

ARTICLE  14. — The  contracting  parties  mutually  agree  to  surrender, 
upon  official  requisition,  to  the  authorities  of  each  "all  persons  who,  being 
charged  with  the  crimes  of  murder,  piracy,  arson,  robbery,  forgery,  or 
the  utterance  of  forged  paper,  committed  within  the  jurisdiction  of 
either,  shall  be  found  within  the  territories  of  the  other  ;  provided  that 
this  shall  only  be  done  upon  such  evidence  of  criminality  as,  according  to 
the  laws  of  the  place  where  the  person  so  charged  shall  be  found,  would 
justify  his  apprehension  and  commitment  for  trial  if  the  crime  had  there 
been  committed ;  and  the  respective  judges  and-  other  magistrates  of 
the  two  governments  shall  have  authority,  upon  complaint  made  under 
oath,  to  issue  a  warrant  for  the  apprehension  of  the  person  so  charged, 
that  he  may  be  brought  before  such  judges  or  other  magistrates  respec 
tively,  to  the  end  that  the  evidence  of  criminality  may  be  heard  and 
considered ;  and  if  on  such  hearing  the  evidence  be  deemed  sufficient  to 
sustain  the  charge,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  examining  judge  or  ma 
gistrate  to  certify  the  same  to  the  proper  executive  authority,  that  a 
warrant  may  issue  for  the  surrender  of  such  fugitive.  The  expense  of 
such  apprehension  and  delivery  shall  be  borne  and  defrayed  by  the  party 
who  makes  the  requisition  and  receives  the  fugitive. 

ARTICLE  15. — So  soon  as -steam  or  other  mail  packets  under  the  flag 
of  either  of  the  contracting  parties  shall  have  commenced  running 
between  their  respective  ports  of  entry,  the  contracting  parties  agree 
to  receive  at  the  post-offices  of  those  ports  all  mailable  matter,  and  to 
forward  it  as  directed,  the  destination  being  to  some -regular  post-office 
of  either  country  ;  charging  thereupon  the  regular  postal  rates  as  estab 
lished  by  law  in  the  territories  of  either  party  receiving  said  mailable 
matter,  in  addition  to  the  original  postage  of  the  office  whence  the  mail 
was  sent.  Mails  for  the  United.  States  shall  be  made  up  at  regular 
intervals  at  the  Hawaiian  post-office,  and  dispatched  to  ports  of  the 
United  States,  the  postmasters  at  which  ports  shall  open  the  same,  and 
forward  the  inclosed  matter  as  directed,  crediting  the  Hawaiian  Govern 
ment  with  their  postages  as  established  by  law  and  stamped  upon  each 
manuscript  or  printed  sheet. 

All  mailable  matter  destined  for  the  Hawaiian  Islands,  shall  be  re 
ceived  at  the  several  post-offices  in  the  United  States,  and  forwarded 
to  San  Francisco  or  other  ports  on  the  Pacific  coast  of  the  United  States, 
whence  the  postmasters  shall  dispatch  it  by  the  regular  mail-packets  to 
Honolulu,  the  Hawaiian  Government  agreeing  on  their  part  to  receive 
and  collect  for,  and  credit  the  post-office  department  of  the  United 
States  with,  the  United  States  rates  charged  thereupon.  It  shall  be 
optional  to  prepay  postage  on  letters  in  either  country,  but  postage  on 
printed  sheets  and  newspapers  shall  in  all  cases  be  prepaid.  The 
respective  post-office  departments  of  the  contracting  parties  shall,  in 


THE  HEART  OF  THE  PACIFIC.          349 

their  accounts,  which  are  to  be  adjusted  annually,  be  credited  with  all 
dead  letters  returned. 

ARTICLE  16. — The  present  treaty  shall  be*  in  force  from  the  date  of 
the  exchange  of  the  ratifications  for  the  term  of  ten  years,  and  further, 
until  the  end  of  twelve  months  after  either  of  the  contracting  parties 
shall  have  given  notice  to  fhe  other  of  its  intention  to  terminate  the 
same,  each  of  the  said  contracting  parties  reserving  to  itself  the  right  of 
giving  such  notice  at  the  end  of  the  said  term  of  ten  years,  or  at  any 
subsequent  term. 

Any  citizen  or  subject  of  either  party  infringing  the  articles  of  this 
treaty  shall  be  held  responsible  for  the  same,  and  the  harmony  and  good 
correspondence  between  the  two  governments  shall  not  be  interrupted 
thereby,  each  party  engaging  in  no  way  to  protect  the  offender  or  sanc 
tion  such  violation. 

ARTICLE  17. — The  present  treaty  shall  be  ratified  by  the  President 
of  the  United  States  of  America,  by  and  with  the  advice  and  consent  of 
the  Senate  of  the  said  States,  and  by  His  Majesty  the  King  of  the  Ha 
waiian  Islands,  by  and  with  the  advice  of  his  Privy  Council  of  State, 
and  the  ratifications  shall  be  exchanged  at  Honolulu  within  eighteen 
months  from  the  date  of  its  signatures,  or  sooner  if  possible. 

In  witness  whereof,  the  respective  plenipotentiaries  have  signed  the 
same  in  triplicate,  and  have  thereto  affixed  their  seals.  Done  at  Wash 
ington,  in  the  English  language,  the  twentieth  day  of  December,  in  the 
year  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  forty-nine. 

JOHtf  M.  CLAYTON, 
JAMES  JACKSON  JARYES. 


And  whereas  we  have  carefully  examined  all  the  points  and  articles 
thereof,  by  and  with  the  advice  of  our  Privy  Council  of  State,  we  have 
confirmed  and  ratified  the  foregoing  treaty,  and  we  do  confirm  and  ratify 
the  same  in  the  most  effectual  manner,  promising  on  our -faith  and  word 
as  King,  for  us  and  our  successors,  to  fulfil  and  observe  it  faithfully  and 
scrupulously  in  all  its  clauses. 

In  faith  of  which  we  have  signed  this  ratification  with  our  own  hand, 
and  have  affixed  thereto  the  great  seal  of  our  kingdom. 

Given  at  our  palace  of  Honolulu,  this  nineteenth  day  of  August,  in 
the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  fifty,  and  in  the 
twenty-fifth  of  our  reign. 

KAMEHAMEHA. 

KEONI  ANA. 

By  the  King  and  the  Premier. 

R,C.  WYLLIE, 

Minister  of  Foreign  Relations. 


350  LIFE   IN    THE   SANDWICH    ISLANDS. 


EXCHANGE  OF  RATIFICATIONS. 

We  the  undersigned,  Robert  Crichton  "Wyllie,  Minister  of  Foreign 
Relations  of  his  Majesty  the  King  of  the  Hawaiian  Islands,  and  Charles 
Bunker,  Consul  of  the  United  States  for  Lahaina,  having  been  authorized 
by  our  respective  governments  to  exchange  the  ratifications  of  the 
treaty  of  friendship,  commerce,  and  navigation  between  his  Hawaiian 
Majesty  and  the  United  States,  concluded  and  signed  at  Washington, 
on  the  twentieth  day  of  December,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
forty-nine,  certify, 

That  we  have  this  day  met  for  that  purpose,  and  after  comparing  the 
said  ratifications  each  with  the  other,  and  both  with  the  original  of  said 
treaty,  have  effected  the  exchange  accordingly. 

In  witness  whereof,  we  have  signed  this  certificate,  at  Honolulu,  this 
twenty-fourth  day  of  August,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  fifty,  and 
have  thereunto  affixed  our  respective  seals. 

R.  C.  WYLLIE, 
CHARLES  BUNKER. 


•    NOTE  A,  p.  196. 

THE  late  researches  of  Professor  Agassiz  into  the  world  of  corals  nat 
urally  suggest  the  inquiry  whether  the  coral  insect  may  not  yet  be 
employed  by  man  for  the  construction  of  sea-walls  and  reefs,  in  places 
within  or  near  the  tropics,  where  they  are  needed.  He  has  succeeded 
in  obtaining  living  specimens  of  the  coral  zoophyte,  and  car e fully  pre 
serving  them  so  as  to  study  at  his  leisure  their  habits  and  motions. 
Why,  then,  as  we  employ  the  silkworm  and  furnish  it  with  food  and 
material  to  spin  for  us  our  silks,  and  as  we  plant  and  form  beds  of  oysters 
in  favorable  locations,  where  we  please,  why  may  we  not  klso  employ 
the  agency  of  the  coral  lithophyte  to  lay  the  foundations,  for  instance, 
of  a  light-house,  or  to  form  a  breakwater  where  one  is  needed*?  Such 
a  practical  result  is  by  no  means  improbable  frem  the  minute  and 
scientific  observations  now  making  upon  the  busy  little  builders  of  the 
deep. 

The  coral  reefs  of  Florida  have  been  carefully  examined  by  Professor 
Agassiz,  and  he  finds  them  to  be  barrier  reefs,  extending  from  the  Tor- 
tugas  to  the  mainland,  conforming  generally  to  the  outline  of  the  shore. 
Lagoon  or  circular  reefs  also  occur,  but  there  is  no  evidence  there  of  the 
subsidence  or  elevation  observed  in  the  Pacific  Ocean ;  these  are  only 
12  or  13  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea.  The  Florida  reefs  consist  of 
the  Astrea  and  Porites  at  the  bottom,  in  a  depth  of  from  60  to  100  feet. 
They  are  large  hemispherical  masses,  some  of  them  12  feet  in  diameter, 
and  containing  4,000,000  of  individual  polyps.  Next  succeeds  the  Me- 


THE  HEART  OF  THE  PACIFIC.  851 


andrina,  which  is  also  hemispherical  in  form,  and  sometimes  13  feet  in 
diameter.  At  the  top  is  found  the  Madrepore,  of  much  harder  texture 
than  the  preceding.  It  can  exist  only  where  the  water  is  in  constant 
motion,  and  thoroughly  commingled  with  air — i.  e.  in  a  breaker  or  surf — 
they  die  in  quiet  waters.. 

Throughout  the  whole  extent  of  the  Florida  reef,  openings  occur,  and 
produce  islands  called  Keys,  from  one  to  fifteen  miles  long,  and  covered 
with  a  tropical  vegetation.  The  reefs  suffer  abrasion  by  the  action  of  the 
sea,  and  are  broken  up  on  a  large  scale  by  the  perforations  of  shell-fish  and 
marine  worms.  The  coral  sand  which  results  from  the  attrition  of  the 
reefs  is  cemented  by  the  carbonate  of  lime  dissolved  'in  the  water,  and 
a  firm  limestone  is  formed  exhibiting  indications  of  stratification,  but 
little  or  no  trace  of  original  organic  structure.  Professor  Agassiz  has 
formerly  spent  much  time  in  the  careful  study  of  the  remarkable  geo 
logical  formation  of  the  Oolitic — Jura  limestone.  He  found  that  the  re 
semblances  presented  by  these  Florida  reefs  were  so  strong  that  he 
could  not  doubt  that  the  Jura  limestone  had  such  an  origin.  The  southern 
portion  of  the  peninsula  consists  of  ancient  reefs,  (hummocks,)  and  inter 
vening  levels,  low  and  marshy,  (everglades,)  the  whole  having  been  won 
from  the  ocean  by  the  coral  polyps. 

These  reefs  are  regarded  with  terror  by  the  navigators,  but  behind 
them  lie  the  wreckers,  in  quiet  waters,  while  the  storm  rages  without. 
With  light-houses  and  appropriate  beacons  the  openings  through  the 
reefs  might  furnish  safe  harbors.  In  answer  to  a  question  whether  this 
process  of  reef-building  would  continue,  obliterating  the  channel  and 
joining  the  West  Indies  to  the  mainland,  Professor  Agassiz  gave  it  as 
his  conviction  that  the  limit  is  already  attained  ;  that  the  depth  of  water 
outside  the  present  reefs  is  such  as  to  prevent  any  more  rising,  but  the 
present  reefs  may  expand  somewhat  laterally. 

The  island  of  Molokai  were  as  well  worth  the  -visit  of  an  Agassiz,  for 
the  studv  of  its  corals,  as  of  the  Christian  traveller  for  its  institutions  of 
religion."  We  commend  it  as  a  field  of  study  both  to  Agassiz  and  Guyot, 
which  they  will  find  equal  facilities'for  investigating,  either  as  annexed 
to,  or  under  the  protectorate  of  the  United  States.  The  following  is 
the  latest  view  of  it  as  a  missionary  field,  contained  in  the  August  num 
ber  of  the  Journal  of  Missions  for  1851. 

Seventeen  years  ago  the  inhabitants  of  Molokai,  one  of  the  Sandwich 
Islands,  were  living  in  a  state  of  heathenism,  which  the  officers  of  the 
United  States  Exploring  Expedition  represent  as  one  of  the  most  sunken 
in  which  any  portion  of  the  human  race  has  ever  been  found.  They  had 
no  civilization  or  letters ;  they  scarcely  had  clothing  or  property  of  the 
"lowest  kind ;  they  lived  in  miserable  huts,  so  fashioned  that  Modesty 
could  not  find  entrance  to  them ;  but  in  their  deep  degradation  they 
had  passions  as  evil  and  as  strong  as  any  other  people. 


352  LIFE   IN   THE  'SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 

The  following  year,  1835,  their  present  missionary,  Mr.  Hitchcock,  took 
up  his  abode  among  them.  God  has  greatly  blessed  his  labors.  Through 
his  instrumentality  chiefly,  a  change  has  been  effected,  which  it  does  not 
often  fall  to  the  lot  of  man  to  witness.  There  are  many  aspects  in  which 
this  change  might  be  exhibited,  but  none  of  them  more  suggestive  than 
that  of  the  liberality  of  the  church. 

For  several  years  they  have  paid  into  the  treasury  of  the  Board  more 
than  enough  to  support  their  pastor.  Last  year  they  paid  upwards  of 
$500  to  sustain  him,  contributed  $700  at  the  monthly  concert,  and  nearly 
$200  for  other  objects.  From  the  beginning  of  the  present  year  to  March 
20th,  less  than  three  months,  they  have  contributed  $210  at  the  monthly 
concert,  and  have  subscribed  $1800  for  the  repair  of  their  meeting-house, 
besides  paying  $100  for  a  son  of  their- pastor,  whom  they  have  adopted 
as  their  beneficiary,  and  intend  to  educate  in  this  country. 

Nor  is  this  all.  Owing  to  the  broken  surface  of  the  island,  valleys 
ly.ing  here  and  there  between  precipitous  hills,  numerous  houses  of  wor 
ship  are  needed  for  their  convenience.  In  one  of  these  valleys  the  in 
habitants,  not  more,  all  told,  than  two  hundred  and  fifty  in  number,  are 
building  a  house,  which,  in  addition  to  their  own  labor  in  getting  stone, 
timber,  lime,  sand,  etc.,  will  cost  them  not  far  from  .  $900,  cash.  And 
yet  they  have  contributed  more  than  $50  at  the  monthly  concert  the 
first  three*  months  of  the  year,  have  paid  their  proportion  of  their  pastor's 
salary,  and  have  also  given  for  their  poor.  In  another  deep  and  secluded 
ravine,  with  but  little  more  than  a  hundred  inhabitants,  they  have  put 
up  a  fine  house,  and  introduced  American  chairs,  and  are  now  raising 
money  for  a  bell.  The  house  in  the  plain  of  Kalaupapa  was  not  well 
built,  and  the  inhabitants  are  raising  funds  for  a  new  one,  having  resolved 
to  appropriate  the  other  for  a  school-house.  Besides  all  this,  the  people 
are  building  houses  of  worship  .in  small  neighborhoods,  that  they  may 
meet  in  them  for  conference  and  prayer,  their  dwelling-houses  not  being 
convenient  for  such  purpose.  -The  members  of  the  church,  entirely  of 
their  own  accord,  have  already  built  seven  o£  these  within  three  miles 
of  the  station  in  either  direction,  and  are  now  at  work  on  the  eighth.  • 

Here  is  a  church  the  foundations  of  which  were  laid  only  half  a  gen 
eration  back,  in  the  midst  of  heathenism,  and  in  one  of  its  darkest  and 
most  degraded  domains.  The  darkness  has  fled  apace  before  the  light 
which  the  Gospel  brings,  the  degradation  will  soon  be  only  a  matter  of 
history.  This  church  makes  abundant  provision  for  its  spiritual  wants, 
and  with  a  full  hand  is  extending  the  blessings  to  others,  which  it  knows 
so  well  how  to  prize.  It  is  an  example  to  be  considered.  How  many 
churches  now  without  a  pastor  because  they  feel  unable  to  support  one, 
or  without  a  house  of  worship  because  they  think  themselves  too  poor  to 
build  one,  would  continue  unsupplied,  if  this  same  spirit  prevailed  in 
them  !  How  soon  the  means  would  be  furnished  for  giving  the  Gospel 
to  all  the  world,  if  every  church  possessed  the  same  spirit  of  liberality  1 


THE   HEABT   OF   THE  PACIFIC.  353 

And  yet  who  will  pronounce  that  the  course  of  this  church  is  not  such 
as  will  give  them  the  liveliest  pleasure  in  the  world  to  come  ? 


NOTE  B,  p.  301. 

THE  remarks  of  Sir  George  Simpson,  Governor-in-chief  of  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company's  Territories,  in  his  volume  entitled  "  Overland  Journev 
of  a  Voyage  Hound  the  World,"  are  not  less  creditable  to  himself  as  a 
philanthropist  and  a  close  observer  of.  mankind,  than  they  are  honorable 
-to  the  American  Missionaries  at  the  Hawaiian  Islands.  While  he  per 
haps  awards  to  the  natives  a  higher  character  than-  they  have  generally 
been  deemed  to  deserve,  he  does  full  justice  to  the  efforts  of  the  mis 
sionaries  to  ameliorate  the  temporal  condition  of  the  lower  orders.  He 
remarks,  that  "  perhaps  the  industry  of  the  natives  is  the  quality  which 
promises  to  be  most  conducive  to  their  civilization.  A  habit,  if  not  a 
love  of  labor  has  been  implanted  and  cherished  in  them  by  a  combina 
tion  of  causes  more  or  less  peculiar  to  their  condition,  which  chiefly,  if 
not  wholly,  resolve  themselves  into  the  niggardliness  of  nature  and  the 
despotism  of  government.  While  many  other  Polynesian  tribes  almost 
realize  the  caricature  of  a  copper-colored  gentleman  lying  on  his  back 
under  the  branches  of  the  bread-fruit,  and  doing  nothing  but  keep  his 
mouth  open  to  catch  the  ripe  rolls  as  they  fall,  the  Hawaiians,  as  we 
have  already  had  occasion  to  notice  more  than  once,  are  compelled  by 
the  necessities  of  nature  to  earn  their  food  by  the  sweat  of  their  brow. 
Witness  the  construction  of  their  fish-ponds,  the  preparation  of  their 
poi,  and  the  cultivation  of  their  kalo,  with  all  its  incidental  toils  of  dig 
ging  and  embanking  the  beds,  of  erecting  and  maintaining  the  aqueducts, 
of  fixing  and  regulating  the  sluices. 

"  So  far  as  the  kalo  and  poi  are  concerned,  there  are  some  localities, 
Lahain'a,  for  instance,  in  Maui,  in  which  the  bread-fruit  abounds,  while, 
with  a  little  care  and  attention,  it  might  be  made  to  grow  in  all  parts  of 
the  group  ;  but  whether  it  be  that  this  ready-made  food  be  here  of  an 
inferior  quality,  or  that  the  favorite  dish  of  the  natives  has  become  in 
dispensable  to  them,  the  bread-fruit  is  as  little  valued  by  the  Sandwich 
Islanders  as  the  kalo,  which  is  indigenous  in  many  parts  of  Polynesia, 
is  valued  by  the  indolent  aborigines  of  the  more  southern  groups.  Nor 
is  the  despotism  of  government  less  influential  in  making  the  people 
work  than  the  niggardliness  of  nature.  Till  very  recently  the  common 
ers  of  this  archipelago,  like  the  peasants  of  France  before  the  revolution, 
or  of  Canada  before  the  conquest,  were  taillables  et  corveables  a  miseri 
cords,  or  to  invent*  English  for  the  exotic  abomination,  taxable  and  task- 
able  at  discretion,  while  they  were  deterred  alike  from  evasion  or  com 
plaint  by  a  mixture  of  feudal  servility  arid  superstitious  terror. 

"But,  within  the  last  year  or  two,  certain  laws,  for  their  share  in 


354:  LIFE   IN  THE   SANDWICH   ISLANDS. 


which  the  missionaries  deserve  great  credit,  have  so  far  remedied  this 
evil  as  to  subject  the  amounts  and  times  of  tasking  and  taxing  to  fixed 
rules ;  and  though  the  ascertained  burdens  are  still  too  heavy  and  too 
numerous,  comprising  work  for  tne  immediate  chief,  work  for  the  king, 
work  for  the  public,  rent  for  land  and  a  poll-tax  on  both  sexes,  yet  the 
restriction  in  question,  if  fairly  carried  into  actual  effect,  will  engender 
in  the  serf  the  idea  of  property,  and  inspire  him  at  once  with  the  hope 
and  the  desire  of  improving  his  physical  condition  by  the  application  of 
his  physical  energies. 

"  Though  in  many  quarters  of  the  group  an  adequate  motive  for  ex 
ertion  may  not  at  present  be  felt,  yet  in  the  neighborhood  of  Honolulu 
the  sustenance  of  several  thousands,  who  are  exclusively  consumers, 
constitutes  at  once  the  proof  and  the  recompense  of  the  industry  of  the 
adjacent  cultivators.  In  fact,  the  demand  of  the  town  affords  an  ample 
market  for  the  natives  of  the  surrounding  country,  while  there  is  cer 
tainly  no  reason  for  the  buyers  to  murmur  as  to  the  amount  or  variety 
of  the  supply.  In  addition  to  the  resources  of  a  stationary  market, 
which  -is  usually  well  furnished  with  fish,  meat,  fruit,  etc.,  the  smaller 
dealers  go  from  house  to  house  to  vend  their  wares,  the  whole  scene, 
which  is  quite  unique,  savoring  of  any  thing  but  indolence  on  the  part 
of  the  rural  population. 

"  Early  in  the  morning  a  crowd  of  natives  may  be  seen  flocking  into 
Honolulu,  all  carrying  something  to  sell.  Most  of  them  have  large  cala 
bashes  suspended  in  a  netting  at  each  end  of  a  pole,  which  they  carry 
across  one  shoulder,  the  contents  being  all  sorts  of  small  articl.es,  kalo 
and  poi,  and  fruits  and  vegetables,  and  riiilk  and  eggs,  and,  what  is  the 
safest  speculation  of  all,  water  fresh  -from  the  cold  atmosphere  of  the 
mountains ;  some  of  them  are  loaded  with  bundles  of  grass  for  the  town- 
fed  horses ;  others  carry  a  sucking  pig  in  their  arms,  while  the  more 
substantial  hog-merchants  make  the  adult  grunters,  always  there,  as 
well  as  elsewhere,  on  the  verge  of  insurrection,  trudge  along  on  their 
own  petty  toes ;  others  again  import  ducks  and  fowls,  and  geese  and 
turkeys,  all  alive,  tied  by  the  legs  to  long  poles,  which  are  carried  like 
the  poles  with  the  calabashes  ;  while  last,  though  not  least,  a  few  indi 
viduals  of  more  airy  and  delicate  sentiments  hawk  about  various  kinds 
of  curiosities,  such  as  mats,  shells,  scorpions,  etc.,  but  above  all,  wreaths 
of  bright  flowers  intertwined  with  their  kindred  leaves  for  the  beaux 
and  belles  of  the  metropolis." 

Evidence  of  the  utility  of  the  Sandwich  Island  mission,  and  of  the 
vast  benefit  effected  by  it  to  the  Hawaiian  people,  is  constantly  accru 
ing  from  every  quarter.'  A  late  number  of  the  Journal  of  Missions  pre 
sents  the  following  :  "  A  short  time  since,  Mr.  Coan's  Church  at  Hilo,  by 
a  contribution  of  $100,  made  his  Excellency  R.  C.  Wyllie,  Minister  of 
Foreign"  Relations  at  Honolulu,  an  honorary  member  of  the  American 
Board. 


THE  HEART  OF  THE  PACIFIC.  355 

"  In  a  note  to  Mr.  Castle,  acknowledging  the  reception  of  the  certificate 
of  membership,  he  says,  *  Wishing  as  well  as  I  do,  and  have  ever  done, 
to  that  benevolent  Board,  I  ought  to  have  become  a  member  long  ago.' 
As  he  was  anticipated  in  this,  he  immediately,  by  the  payment  of  $100, 
constituted  Mrs.  Lee,  wife  of  the  Chief-justice  of  the  Islands,  a  member. 
In  addition  to  this  substantial  testimony  to  the  good  effected  by  mis 
sions,  he  says,  in  a  letter  to  the  treasurer  of  the  Board,  whom  he  knew 
manjt  years  ago  in  Chili — *  I  consider  that  the  diffusion  of  knowledge 
and  Christianity  throughout  the  Hawaiian  Islands  is  at'  once  the  proud 
est  achievement  of  any  Foreign  Missionary  Society,  and  the  greatest 
benefit  that  has  been  conferred  on  these  Islands  the  last  thirty-one  years-' 

"  Few  men  are  better  qualified  to  give  an  opinion  on  this  subject  than 
Mr.  Wyllie.  He  is  a  Scotchman  by  birth,  has  seen  much  of  the  world,- 
is  a  man  of  close  observation  and  of  large  intelligence,  and  has  resided 
for  a  long  time  at  the  Islands,  where,  for  several  years,  he  has,  with 
distinguished  credit  to  himself,  and  great  advantage  to  the  nation,  filled 
his  present  highly  responsible  office.  While  yet  a  private  resident  there, 
an  extended  series  of  articles  from  his  pen,  on  the  Sandwich  Islands, 
their  productions,  capabilities,  etc.,  gave  proof  of  an  intimate  knowledge 
of  all  that  pertained  to  this  group,  and  a  just  appreciation  of  their  future 
importance." 


THE  ISLAND  WORLD  OF  THE  PACIFIC! 
BY  REV,   HENRY  T,  CHEEVER, 

WITH  ENGRAVINGS.     12MO,  MUSLIN,  $1.00. 


THIS  is  a  volume  worthy  of  the  age,  and  of  the  present  wants  of  the  world.  We  have 
perused  it  with  umningled  pleasure  and  delight,  and  promise  any  one  who  will  take 
the  trouble  to  open  it,  an  amount  and  richness  of  information  relative  to  the  Polynesian 
world,  to  be  obtained  from  no  other  source.  It  is  copiously  illustrated,  and  written  in 
a  flowing  style,  and  with  the  marks  of  keen  observation,  Christian  philosophy,  and  a 
critical  insight  into  the  world's  woes,  wants,  and  blessings,  stamped  on  every  page.  In 
it  are  passages  and  chapters  of  exceeding  beauty  of  description.  The  chapter  on  the 
Albatross,  that  glorious  bird  of  the  sea,  is  worth  the  price  of  the  volume. — American 
Spectator. 

The  volume  presents  a  mass  of  information  with  regard  to  the  history,  geography, 
and  commerciarand  political  condition  of  those  islands,  brought  down  to  the  present 
time,  and  digested  into  a  compact  and  readable  form.  His  book  cannot  fail  to  be  widely 
read  during  the  present  excitement  in  regard  to  every  thing  connected  with  the  Pacific 
Ocean. — New  York  Tribune. 


very  creditable  manner,  The  Christian  public  will  welcome  a  volume  from  one  who 
is  able  and  willing  to  tell  the  truth  in  regard  to  those  islands  where  missionary  opera 
tions  have  been  so  successful,  and  yet  the  subject  of  so  much  detraction  and  abuse. 
The  book  contains  much  valuable  information,  connected  with  interesting  anecdotes 
and  personal  adventures.  It  is  illustrated  by  a  score  of  well-executed  engravings. 
The  Appendix,  giving  a  statistical  view  Of  the  resources,  trade,  population,  etc.,  of  the 
Hawaiian  Islands,  is  a  valuable  addition. — New  York  Observer. 

It  is  full  of  information  and  life,  telling  stories  of  land  and  sea  in  a  way  to  stir  the 
passion  for  ad  venture  without  harm  to  the  sobriety  of  the  reader's  temper,  or  the  stead 
fastness  of  his  faith.  We  need  such  books  always,  and  especially  now,  when  a  new 
age  of  marine  adventure  is  awakened,  and  our  youth  are  taking  with  fresh  zeal  to  the 
seas.  Voyages  are  always  captivating  to  the  young,  and  happy  is  it  when  the  story  is 
'told  by  a  Christian  or  a  man  of  taste.  The  book  is  just  the  thing  for  the  host  of  boys 
between  fourteen  and  twenty,  the  mighty  generation  now  starting  on  the  race  or  voy 
age  of -life. — Christian  Enquirer. 

A  charming  book,  which  we  can  read  with  confidence  in  the  author's  statements, 
and  with  unflagging  interest  in  the  fresh  scenes  which  they  bring  so  vividly  before  our 
minds.  It  is  a  most  instructive  book  for  young  persons.  The  ocean  paradises  of 
which  it  makes  report  to  us,  will  ere  long  be  visited  by  summer  tourists. —  Unitarian 
Quarterly  Examiner. 

Those  interested  in  the  history  of  missions,  as  conducted  in  the  Islands  of  the  Sea, 
will  wish  to  place  this  interesting  and  instructive  volume  both  in  their  home  and 
school  libraries.  Its  style  is  pleasing,  and  as  well  calculated  to  engage  the  attention  of 
the  young  as  the  fascinating  romance,  while,  instead  of  presenting  merely  the  ideal,  it 
communicates  the  real  and  the  useful.  The  numerous  engravings  add  to  its  value, 
and  give  yn  accurate  view  of  many  points  of  interest  in  these  far-off  islands. — Advocate 
and  Guardian. 


myth.  Cheever  dresses  his  personal  adventure  in  the  soberer  garb  of  truth  ;  and  as  he 
lends  us  on  from  group  to  group  of  those  far-off  isles",  he  drops  here  and  there,  all  along 
the  course  of  his  route,  practical  and  statistical  observations,  that  let  one  deeply  into 
the  true  state  of  these  *' haunts  and  homes"  of  another,  though  a  brother  race. — Ro 
chester  American. 


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